


Fish and the Boy Who Lived

by KairiGokuJr



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-14 17:54:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28799430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KairiGokuJr/pseuds/KairiGokuJr
Summary: During her third year at Hogwarts, Aurora "Rory" Lupin learns that her father, Remus Lupin, adopted her when her biological father, Sirius Black, was sent to prison. She starts her fourth year leaning into her new friendship with Harry Potter even as the threat of Voldemort swirls around him in the TriWizard tournament. And as the danger grows for Harry, Rory feels something growing inside of her and she begins to suspect that her supposed "knack" for divination might be more than it appears to be.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 10





	1. The Winds of Change

Rory was all nerves that morning. Sure, she'd been to a sleepover with her best friend, Matilda a few times, but this was different. This wasn't with Matilda. After the events that ended their third year of school, she was now irrevocably tied to Hogwarts's very own "Golden Trio." No one called them this to their faces because it was mostly an insult. A testament to how often found themselves getting into trouble and being rewarded for it.

But now Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Harry Potter were her friends. They had been before, but only in passing. Hermione was her roommate and the only other person in their year who liked to be challenged academically. Rory was also fond of Ron because he was the only other person around who liked the Chudley Cannons.

And then there was Harry Potter. Rory didn't know him as well, and she'd made a point to avoid him and the trouble he brought with him. He was nice, certainly, and whenever Draco Malfoy or any other Slytherin tried to harass her, he was first in line to jump to her defense. Mostly though, she gave him a wide berth.

Until last year.

"Are you sure you're all right with me going? I really don't mind staying," Rory said as they waited in the lobby of the Ministry of Magic. It was deserted at this time of day, but this seemed the most convenient way to get her to the Weasley's house. There was no fireplace to connect to the floo network in their small flat and she was too young to apparate. Using the floos at the Ministry was the easiest way to get to her.

The Weasleys had owned a very illegal flying car, but in second year, Ron and Harry crashed it into the Whomping Willow on Hogwarts grounds. That had been a spectacular sight.

"As if I would make you pass on the opportunity to go to the World Cup," her father said.

In Aurora's eyes, there could not possibly be a better human being on the planet than her father, Remus Lupin. Their life had not been easy and until this year, they'd mostly lived in a shabby one-bedroom flat where Remus slept except when his daughter was away at school. No one wanted to hire a werewolf. Except Dumbledore had last year.

Having the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor also be her father didn't earn her any popularity points, especially in the aftermath of the entire student body finding out about her father's condition. But that didn't bother her one bit. That didn't make her ashamed to have him as a father and never harbored an ounce of resentment towards him for the life they led as a result of them having so little money.

But their relationship was different now that she knew the truth about Sirius Black.

"You do this every time you have to leave for school," Remus said. "Except for last year because I went with you."

"I just worry about you being on your own," she said, as she did every year. She was less nervous this year, maybe because she was older, but also because she was nervous about her upcoming trip with the Weasleys to the Quidditch World Cup.

"I did quite well being on my own for 21 years before you came along. I think I'll manage," he said.

Rory rolled her eyes at this.

"Ah, Remus! You're a sight for sore eyes."

Rory turned to see Arthur Weasley approaching them.

"Arthur. Good to see you," Remus said, as the two shook hands in greeting.

"Hello," Rory said with a polite wave.

"Thank you for inviting her along," Remus said. "I've never been a fan of Quidditch."

"I think his eyes roll into the back of his head whenever I talk about it," Rory said.

"Well Ron insisted," Mr. Weasley said. "We're happy to have you."

Rory gave her dad one last hug. Remus paused to take in his daughter's features as he always did before she departed for school. Then he kissed her forehead.

"Love you, Dad," she said.

"I love you too," he said. "Take care of yourself, Aurora."

"And you," she said. "Remember chips aren't a proper vegetable."

Remus laughed Rory walked off with Mr. Weasley.

"Now is it Aurora or Rory?" he asked.

"Either," she said. "Rory's a nickname for Aurora."

"Ah," Mr. Weasley said, clearly never having heard her name from Ron.

She was called Aurora, like the northern lights. Her mother, she'd been told, had picked the name as a nod to her father's family's proclivity to name their children after celestial objects. She'd only learned this a few months ago. That was when she'd learned that her father, Remus, was not actually her father. He'd adopted Aurora 13 years ago when her real father was thrown in jail for murder.

Her actual father was the notorious Sirius Black was.

This revelation was how, despite her desire to not be thrown into any mess with Harry Potter, she'd had little choice. When Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban last year there were murmurings that he would go looking for Harry Potter for revenge, but her dad, Remus, was also concerned that Black might come looking for her.

But then it turned out that Sirius Black wasn't a killer after all. He'd been framed. It was a whole complicated mess that upended her life. Aurora spent so much of that evening in a blur feeling torn and confused and crying. But the next morning her dad was still there. He might not be her biological father, but he was always going to be her dad.

The only "downside" was that now she'd been permanently tied to Harry Potter and his trouble. They both had this huge secret about Sirius Black and his innocence and her parentage between them. There was no going back to the polite waves and "hellos" of years past.

Rory was part of Harry Potter's inner circle whether she wanted to be or not.

* * *

Rory dusted herself off as Mr. Weasley climbed from the fireplace behind her.

"Your home is lovely," Rory said gazing around the kitchen. In her flat, there was a small bar that separated the kitchen from the living area and that was it. This was practically a mansion to Rory.

"Ah, it's not much," he said.

Standing at the stove was a Mrs. Weasley. She'd seen her on the platform many times at the beginning and end of the school year. Both she and her husband had the same bright red hair their children had. Sometimes Rory wished her hair was a more interesting color than jet black, but in these circumstances, it would help her stand out.

"You must be Rory," Mrs. Weasley said.

"Aurora," Mr. Weasley corrected her.

Rory very nearly corrected him that either was fine, but she was quickly pulled into a tight hug.

"It's so good to meet you. The kids have been talking about you all summer. We're so happy to have you," Mrs. Weasley said.

"Thank you," Rory said.

Harry had written to Rory a few times over the summer, particularly after her birthday where he told her that he would also be spending the latter part of the summer with the Weasleys and that she should prepare for Mrs. Weasley's "aggressive hospitality."

"We'll be having dinner in just a bit. The others are outside. I'll have Arthur carry your things up to Ginny's room," Mrs. Weasley said.

Rory barely had the time to say thank you before she was shown the back door. The sun was starting to set on the horizon, but she could see her friends just up ahead. She walked through the grass and the mass of shapes of her friends started to finally become their own people.

Matilda was the first to see Rory. She was the only blonde in the bunch and, as usual, wore her hair loose and pushed back with a headband. She waved and then dashed over. She took Rory into a hug.

"My Beautiful Aurora," Matilda declared.

"My Beautiful Matilda," Rory replied.

Matilda Cerbus was easily the prettiest girl in our year, if not the whole school. People simultaneously wanted to be her and also hated her. She'd been a bit of a pariah in their first year because her father murdered someone and was sitting in Azkaban, but Matilda was so charming and so easy on the eyes that you forgot all about the fact that her father.

Matilda, like Hermione, was one of Rory's roommates, but the pair had always been best friends.

Rory wanted desperately to tell her best friend about Sirius Black and everything that transpired that night when Sirius Black had been set to be executed. But she'd been told not to. She wondered how many more secrets she was going to have to keep from Matilda if she kept hanging around Harry Potter.

"Ron's mother is basically my favorite person," Matilda said. "I got here this morning with Hermione and she made this coffee cake for brunch and I swear my soul left my body for a moment. It was an experience."

"Wow, that's high praise," Rory said.

Matilda slung an arm over her friend's shoulder. "How's the new flat?"

"Amazing," Rory said. "My dad slept so soundly the first night I was worried he was dead."

Matilda laughed. "I'm so glad to hear it. Especially after everything that happened."

Rory nodded in agreement. The fact that Matilda hadn't abandoned her after finding out Remus was a werewolf had been a relief. Rory was sure that all of her friends would turn on her, but Matilda had simply said "Well no wonder he's so exhausted all of the time."

"It's a good thing you're here. I don't think the trio knows exactly what to do with me," Matilda said quietly as they approached the others. "I'm sure Ron only invited me because he invited you."

That was probably true.

"You're just very intimidating," Rory explained. "No one knows what to do with you except for me."

"Too true," Matilda said.

"Hey, Rory!" Hermione said with a wave before giving her a hug. "Good to see you."

"And you," Rory replied. "Hello, Ron."

"Hey Rory," he said with a curt wave.

And then there was Harry. Tall, lanky, with dark unkempt hair, green eyes, and that peculiar lightning bolt scar on his forehead.

Rory was only slightly startled when he hugged her, and she returned the gesture before he realized she'd been caught off guard. Harry Potter had never once hugged her before. Not even on the night she found out Sirius Black was her father and that so much of both of their lives had been kept from them.

But they were friends now. Friends hugged all the time. This was fine.

"You were right about the aggressive hospitality," Rory said. "I still don't think I was properly prepared."

"Well you made it out here without being smothered so that's something," Harry said.

Ron rolled his eyes. "My mum can't help it. She's always been that way. Did she ask you if you were hungry or say that you look underfed?"

"Not once has she not commented on how skinny I am," Harry said.

"You're a seeker. You're more aerodynamic that way," Rory said.

"Oh, Merlin. _Please_ save the quidditch talk until tomorrow," Matilda said. "I'd like a bit a respite before it becomes all-consuming. I'm only here because of friendship."

"I second that," Hermione chimed in. "Spare us."

"Fine," Harry agreed. "How's your dad?"

"Good actually," Rory said. "He still hasn't found work yet, but he's hopeful. We saved up basically everything while he was teaching, so we'll be fine for a long while."

"Glad to hear it," Hermione said. "I'm still so angry with Snape."

Rory's skin went hot at the mere mention of his name.

Severus Snape, as it turned out, was the reason Remus now found himself unemployed. Snape was the one who let it slip that a werewolf was teaching Hogwarts. He'd done nothing but antagonize Rory's father all year. Even the essay he set when he subbed for Remus, an essay on werewolves, had been a dig at him.

Rory wanted to kick her potion's master in the teeth. She'd told her father as much, but he'd promised her that Snape would get his eventually.

"I try to think about him as little as possible except for when I'm dreaming about hexing that greasy mop of hair right off his head," Rory said.

"Can I watch when you eventually go through with it?" Ron asked.

"Absolutely," Rory agreed. "You'll have to be on the lookout though. I could snap at any moment."

"You nearly did at the end of term," Matilda said. "What a juvenile thing to do. They were in school nearly two decades ago and he's still got a wild hair up his ass about your dads. Somebody needs to learn to grow up."

Harry nodded. He'd gotten the brunt of Snape's attitude over the past three years.

"Maybe he'll get over it his year," Ron suggested.

"Unlikely," Rory and Harry said in unison. They exchanged a glance and then laughed awkwardly.

Was everything going to be awkward between them now? Rory didn't like it. Maybe it was better when they were just passing acquaintances.

"'Scuse us a moment," Matilda said, pulling Rory out of earshot of the others. "What is up with you and Harry Potter?"

"Nothing," Rory replied.

"He went from barely acknowledging your existence to hugging you. His best friend invited us to the Quidditch World Cup," Matilda said. "Does he fancy you?"

Rory scoffed. "Yes. Famous Harry Potter has a crush on me and I forgot to mention it to you. Silly me."

Matilda huffed. "Fine. I just feel like there's some secret between the two of you that I'm not privy to."

Rory bit her lip. She was allowed to tell Matilda that Sirius Black was her actual dad since the truth was technically public knowledge, but she was afraid of what her best friend might say. It would stop her asking questions about Harry though.

"Okay, but you can't tell anyone at school. Promise?" Rory asked.

"Obviously," Matilda said with a nod.

And so Rory explained that she was adopted and that her real father was actually none other than the notorious Sirius Black, who also happened to be Harry Potter's godfather. That her father had been best friends with Sirius and the Potters at the time of their murder and so he'd stepped up to care for Sirius' daughter and try to keep it a secret from her so that she would never know the horrible truth of who her father was.

Matilda's jaw was on the floor. "Holy shit."

"Yeah," Rory said.

"No wonder," Matilda said looking over to Harry. "And your poor dad."

"Yeah," Rory agreed. He spent all those years raising the daughter of the man he thought was responsible for the death of all of his friends. It was sad. Of course, Rory couldn't tell her the whole truth about Sirius Black now. Or even how she knew it.

"But look on the bright side," Matilda said, "that's something else we have in common now. Both of our dads are notorious killers."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Leave it to you to draw that conclusion."

Matilda looked back over to Harry. "You definitely have a crush on him though."

"No I don't," Rory said firmly.

"Every girl in our year has a crush on Harry Potter at some point. Just accept it," Matilda said. "Unless you're Granger."

Rory glanced over her shoulder at Hermione. It was the world's worst kept secret that Hermione fancied Ron Weasley. It was blindingly obvious, probably even to Harry.

"Matilda, my favorite guinea pig. Mind trying something out for me?" Fred called across the yard.

Matilda sighed. "Excuse me."

Fred and George Weasley were in the process of developing their own line of sweets and jokes. Matilda somehow ended up becoming one of the people who tested their occasionally dangerous concoctions.

Matilda walked over to the twins and Ginny, leaving Rory to gravitate back over to the trio.

"Been in touch with Sirius?" Harry asked. Rory nodded. "I bet it's weird."

"Yeah. I think it's weird for my dad too," Rory said. "But I think he's relieved that I know now. Even more relieved that Sirius isn't actually a killer."

"Pretty relieved about that myself," Harry said.

"Being that everyone was counting on him murdering you, yeah I bet," Ron said.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Very direct, as always."

Ron shrugged. "Anyway, I'm glad you could make it, Rory."

"Yeah. Thanks for inviting me. I don't get out much unless I'm staying a few nights with Mattie," Rory said. Across the yard, Matilda was laughing.

"Probably telling her all about how they pranked my unsuspecting cousin into eating one of their concoctions when they showed up to get me," Harry said.

"Aw, that's too bad," Rory said.

"Not really," Harry said. And so Harry recounted the details of the last 13 years of his life: living with his aunt and uncle, sleeping under the stairs, being locked inside his bedroom second year, running away the previous year.

"The words 'child abuse' come to mind," Rory said. Harry shrugged. "How can you just shrug it off?"

"Well, having the lingering threat of Sirius Black being my godfather has really put them in a more tolerable mood," Harry said. "I'm all right. Really. Only three more summers with them."

"That's a bright side, but still," Rory said. "What a shit way for them to treat you. You're their family."

"I got a better replacement for them," Harry said nodding towards the Burrow. "Sometimes you do get to choose your family. Sometimes they come and kidnap you in the middle of the night and then their mother forces food on you every time you see her afterward."

"It's a good problem to have," Rory said.

"Definitely not complaining," Harry said. "I try not to let the Dursleys get me down. At least not anymore."

"Yeah, it's not fair though. Your parents are killed and then life continues to deal you a shit hand," Rory said.

"You didn't exactly get a fair shake either," Harry said. "Or your dad."

"I guess life is just shit sometimes," Rory said with a shrug.

"Exactly," Harry said. "But it could be worse."

Rory nodded. "I guess. There could be a disembodied dark wizard floating around trying to murder me."

Harry laughed. "See, you get it."

"I guess so," Rory said. She glanced over and saw that Ron and Hermione had extracted themselves from the conversation, probably having heard Harry recount the details of his upbringing a thousand times.

Rory saw Ron and Hermione talking to Matilda now. Their lives had been intersecting for the last three years. She even shared a room with Hermione, but no one knew Rory the way Matilda did. Rory didn't know anyone the way she knew Matilda. But now she was sharing stories with Harry, not to mention they had the weight of the secret of Sirius Black's innocence between them.

Rory felt things changing. She knew that change was inevitable. She would make new friends, her relationship with her old friends would change. Different people would get to see different parts of her.

Standing in Ron Weasley's garden talking to Harry Potter, Rory could swear the change was tangible.


	2. The World Cup

The excitement was palpable the next morning as they walked with Mr. Weasley in preparation to depart for the World Cup. Ron was excited to have someone other than his brothers to chat with excitedly about the Bulgarian team and their star seeker, Viktor Krum. Between Rory and Ron, their knowledge of him was encyclopedic.

"Plus, he's still in school," Rory said. "A seventh year. Can you believe it? He's lead Bulgaria to the cup and I can't even look at a broom without my stomach turning inside out."

Harry remembered first year during flying lessons where Rory famously did laps on her broom before vomiting directly onto the front of Pansy Parkinson's robes. Rory was excused from flying lessons for the rest of the term due to the discovery of an inner ear deformity that gave her severe motion sickness, and she also made a lifelong enemy in Pansy.

"I doubt I'll do anything impressive by the time I'm 17," Rory said.

"No one does, really," Ron said. "Unless you're Viktor Krum."

"It's such a relief for her to have someone else to direct all of that onto," Matilda said. "I can only tolerate so much quidditch talk."

"Have you _seen_ Viktor Krum?" Rory asked.

"No," Matilda said. "And don't say it's because he's good looking because you think any bloke who plays quidditch is attractive."

"False. Have you seen Marcus Flint? He looks like he was crossbred with a naked mole-rat," Rory said.

The teens howled with laughter as they crested a hill.

"And I guess Connor O'Malley doesn't play Quidditch," Matilda said.

"Mattie, shut up!" Rory said whacking her friend on the arm as her face flushed with embarrassment. Connor was a seventh-year Ravenclaw who Harry only knew because he was in choir with Rory and it was obvious to anyone with eyes that she had a huge crush on him last term.

Three wizards stood at the top of the hill. Harry didn't recognize two of them, but the third he recognized from school. It was a seventh year Hufflepuff, Cedric Diggory. He was captain of Hufflepuff's quidditch team.

Harry noticed instantly when the girls spotted him because they were silent. He could feel all eyes going to Cedric.

"Now that's an attractive quidditch player," Matilda said quietly. Rory nodded in agreement.

It put the thought in Harry's brain. He wondered if any of his classmates thought of him as an attractive quidditch player. Or attractive at all really. He didn't look like Cedric Diggory—Harry was kind of lanky and tall and awkward. His hair was an untamable mess. He got quite pale in the wintertime and occasionally his voice still cracked when spoke. At the very least he didn't think he was _un_ attractive.

Harry didn't think too much about his appearance, or anyone else's for that matter, but all of a sudden it was like a switch was flipped in in his head. Did he want girls to think he was attractive? Did he want any specific girls to think he was attractive?

He glanced around at present company. Ginny was probably always just going to be Ron's little sister; he didn't think he would ever stop seeing her as that 10-year-old girl on the platform his first year. Hermione was basically his sister, not to mention that it was glaringly obvious that she liked Ron.

Matilda was very pretty. She was leggy and blonde and had the most piercing blue eyes Harry had ever seen. But Matilda also had a very outgoing personality, and she was so loud. Harry had once heard her say "I will literally die if I don't get enough attention." Harry had trouble paying enough attention to his class assignments.

And then there was Rory. She was…

Actually, Rory was quite pretty as well. She had curly dark hair and smoky gray eyes and a lovely smile. Her voice had a lilting cadence to it and it almost always caught Harry's ear when she spoke up in class. She had a very calming nature to her, but she'd also been known to put Draco Malfoy in his place more than once, and even Snape though it had earned her detention more than once.

"Earth to Harry Potter," Rory said snapping a finger in front of his face.

Harry snapped out of his trance to see Rory standing in front of him. She was wearing her dark hair in a ponytail, as usual. The tangle of loose curls fell well past her shoulders with only a few loose strands framing her face as they blew in the wind. She was smiling at him, but also seemed concerned.

"Is there something on my face?" she asked.

Shit. He was staring. Definitely staring at her.

"Sorry. I was zoning out a bit. Just got distracted, I think," Harry said. He surveyed the landscape. "Not much to look at in Surrey. You're better to look at." Rory's face instantly flushed red. "I just mean that, not that you're bad to look at, I just saw you, and I kind of went blank. Like I said, not much to look at in Surrey."

Rory nodded and cleared her throat. "Not much to look at in London either, except other flats." She motioned toward a boot that was lying on the ground. "Know anything about portkeys?"

Harry shook his head.

"Excellent. I've traveled by one before and I hate them worse than I hate brooms. But they'll 'teleport' you to a specific destination when you touch it. Usually at a specific time, but it's magic which is kind of free and loose with the rules most of the time isn't it?" Rory said.

"Right," Harry agreed.

"Anyway, that old boot is our portkey. So in a few minutes, we're all going to put a finger on that old piece of rubbish and appear at the World Cup. And then I have hand sanitizer I can distribute if people would like it," Rory said.

"I would," Harry said. "Do you always carry hand sanitizer?"

"Well, I once read that, before indoor plumbing, wizards and witches used to just piss and shit themselves wherever they felt like it and then magic the mess away. Whether that's true or not it traumatized me, so yes. I always have sanitizer. And tissues," Rory said. "And quill tip pens."

"Pens?" Harry laughed.

"Out of spite, I've written every single one of Snape's essays with a pen. Drip a little ink on the parchment and he can't tell the difference," Rory whispered. "He thinks he's so smart, but he's not as smart as he thinks. Literally, no one can tell the difference. Quill and ink so dated. We're like freaking troglodytes in the magical community."

Harry chuckled. Rory was not only pretty and disarming, but she was cool as well. Their brief time-traveling journey together last year, topped with their occasional meetings through the first three years of their schooling assured him of that. Rory was quiet and kind, absolutely, but Harry was also glad now that he had an excuse to be around her more and to get to know her better.

"All right, time to go," Mr. Weasley declared. Everyone put a finger to the boot before them so that everyone in their group could get a hand on it and then as if being yanked by his bellybutton, Harry was yanked through a tunnel and then landed firmly on a patch of grass. He looked around and saw that his classmates, save for Cedric Diggory, were all disoriented by the experience.

Harry looked at Rory, sitting on the ground beside him and she winked.

"Told you," she started. "It's shit traveling this way." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small bottle of hand sanitizer. She squeezed a bit in her hand and then offered it to Harry.

* * *

The World Cup camping grounds were packed. Rory didn't think she'd ever seen so many people at once. There were people clad in the green and silver of Ireland and the black and red of Bulgaria. There were people painted in the colors not wearing many clothes at all. When the group got to their particular campsite, Mr. Weasley began erecting the tent.

"Oi, look there," Rory said, grabbing Matilda's attention. Rory motioned over to a large banner being hung at another tent bearing the image of none other than Viktor Krum. He was tall and muscular. Rory always imagined that he looked a bit like he was chiseled from marble.

"Merlin," Matilda said.

"I'll say," Hermione agreed.

"He looks like he could break me in half," Matilda said. "But what a way that would be to go."

Rory nodded in agreement. "And you should see him fly. He's like-."

"Oh, you know I don't care about his Quidditch skills," Matilda said.

Rory rolled her eyes and Hermione giggled beside her.

"Maybe the gaggle of fourth years would be so kind as to take these buckets and get us some water and firewood?" Mr. Weasley said.

The teens did so with only minimal griping, following the signs placed about directing them to their destination. On their walk, they saw many of their classmates, the freshly graduated (but still good looking) Oliver Wood, Seamus Finnigan, and while they were filling up their buckets, a fifth-year Ravenclaw girl, Cho Chang, showed up with a bucket of her own, causing Harry to nearly spill his own bucket.

"Jeez, Harry, you act like you've never seen a pretty girl before," Matilda teased once they were clearly out of earshot of Cho.

The group laughed, and then, for some unknown reason, Harry looked over to Rory. She looked away quickly, cursing the touch of heat that crept onto her cheeks.

This was the second time today Harry Potter had been looking at her. And he hadn't just been looking at her like he was doing it just because she was there. He was looking at her like he thought maybe she was pretty and needed looking at.

But he was tripping all over himself in front of the gloriously pretty Cho Chang, why would he bother looking at Rory? She felt she was just kind of average. In first year, Seamus Finnigan had told her "Your eyes are kind of weird" and Rory had never forgotten it. She added it to her list of faults. Her face was too round, her features not bold enough. She was flat and smooth and not ugly, but not anything to write home about.

And yet twice now she'd caught Harry Potter looking at her. The first time he'd been staring.

Rory didn't have a crush on Harry, but he was handsome. She liked his messy hair and his green eyes, and the way his round glasses sat on his face. His attention was obviously unexpected. Especially since no one ever paid her any attention. She looked bland and was poor and smarter than most boys liked.

But Harry Potter's best friends were a boy who was poor and a girl who was smarter than most boys liked. Maybe Rory wasn't as bland as she thought.

That didn't make the looks any less strange.

Walking back to their tent would have been uneventful, except that they came upon the tent of the Malfoys. It was green and silver and large, completely over the top. Rory rolled her eyes when she saw it, and they practically fell out of her head when she saw Draco standing outside with his friend, Blaise Zabini.

"Brace yourselves," Matilda said.

Draco Malfoy's favorite targets were Harry, Ron, and Hermione, in that order. Neville Longbottom would've been next, and then Rory. This was a platter for Malfoy.

Luckily, the group was very adept at dealing with Draco Malfoy these days.

"Well, well, well," Draco said. "Look who it is. Potter and his Merry Band of-."

"Shut the fuck up," Rory said before Draco could finish. She was utterly exhausted of him. He'd been in rare form last year and Rory had held it in because her father was a teacher. Luckily. Remus Lupin wasn't here to tell her to behave herself.

Draco flinched, but only for a moment before he turned his sneer on her.

"Feeling bold, are you, Lupin? Between you and Weasley, your families must be surviving on beans and toast for the next year to afford to show up here," Draco said.

"Yeah, and all your dad had to do was blow some guy at the ministry for your tickets," Rory said. "Beans on toast taste better than dick I reckon."

"Who do you think you are speaking to me like that?" Malfoy asked, stepping toward me as if he might try to hit me, but he was a coward, so I knew not to be intimidated.

"Aurora Delphine Lupin," she replied extending her hand. He swatted it away.

"Don't try and touch me," Draco hissed. "Don't want any of your father's filthy werewolf blood-."

WHACK!

Rory swung her leg back and kicked him right in the shin and Draco went down.

"Try and talk shit about my dad again and I swear on Gryffindor's sword I'll kick you in your teeth next time, Malfoy," Rory said.

Before Malfoy could get up, her friends were pulling her away, spilling water, dropping sticks as they ran away from the tent.

They were out of breath and laughing when they reached their camp.

"I can't believe you kicked him!" Ron said. "You and Hermione are my heroes."

"Hermione?" Matilda asked.

"Hermione punched Malfoy in the face last year," Harry said. "Of course, he doesn't let that get around much."

Matilda laughed and high-fived Hermione.

"Draco Malfoy is such a git. I'm glad I kicked him," Rory said.

But then they saw Lucius Malfoy walking toward their camp.

"Shit," Rory said. "I guess I'll tell your dad I kicked Draco Malfoy."

Quickly, Rory got to her feet, found Mr. Weasley and confessed what she'd done (giving context for kicking him, of course), and then warned him that Lucius Malfoy was stalking toward them at that very moment.

Mr. Weasley seemed exasperated but shook it off in time for Lucius to reach our tent. He saw Rory and glared, but she smiled.

"Good morning, Mister Malfoy," she said cheerfully.

Harry was the one to pull her away as Lucius spoke up.

"One of your charges, the Lupin girl, has apparently taken upon herself to assault Draco," Lucius said.

"Yes. She told me and expressed her deep regret for her actions," Mr. Weasley said. "She's willing to apologize to your son as it turns out."

Rory's mouth formed a straight line. She was only willing to apologize because it would keep Mr. Weasley out of trouble. But otherwise, she felt no remorse.

"Of course," Rory said. "Speaking ill of someone's parents is no reason react violently."

Lucius sneered that same Malfoy-esque sneer down at her.

"Well, we all know who your _real_ father is don't we?" Lucius asked.

Rory frowned. Mr. Weasley placed a hand upon her shoulder.

"Yes, we do. A psychopathic murderer. And yet your son still felt it prudent to provoke me. No wonder I kicked him. I just can't control myself. Must be genetic," Rory said. She crossed her arms and stood firmly in her spot. "But, of course, I'd love to apologize for my abhorrent behavior."

Lucius stared at me and then looked up to Mr. Weasley.

"Try to keep your wildlings in line," Lucius said and then he turned and walked off without another word.

Rory let out a deep breath. But Mr. Weasley squeezed her shoulder tightly.

"I promise, my dad is going to be fifty different types of angry that I almost got you in trouble and please feel free to give him a detailed rundown of my bad behavior. I deserve it," Rory said. Then she wrapped her arms around Mr. Weasley. "Also, thank you."

"Of course," Mr. Weasley said. "Try to behave yourself for the rest of the day and we might keep this a secret from your dad. I know how those Malfoys are."

"You're a star, Arthur Weasley. That must be where Ron gets it," Rory said.

"Aw, you think I'm a star?" Ron asked.

"Of course, Ronald," Rory said. She walked over and mussed his hair. "I'd be sitting at home watching _Bake-Off_ with my dad if you hadn't invited me. Not that I'm ever angry about Paul Hollywood."

Ron cocked an eyebrow. "What?"

Harry laughed. "It's a muggle television show. One of my favorites actually. I'm always sure to be silent and to sit as far out of view from my family as possible when it's on so I can watch. Shame I won't know who wins this series."

"Oh, I've told my dad to send me an owl promptly following the finale, so no worries," Rory said.

"I've never watched _Bake-Off_ ," Hermione said.

Harry and Rory both gasped.

"Hermione, next summer I am coming to your house and forcing you to watch television and I'm going to get you hip to the tent and the bakes and teach you why no one likes a soggy bottom," Rory said.

Harry laughed which made Rory laugh as well.

"What the hell are you two on about?" Matilda asked. "Is 'soggy bottom' something dirty?"

"No! No, no. No. It's just a baking thing," Harry explained, going red in the face.

"Although outside of the context of baking a soggy bottom would likely be very dirty and probably also gross," Rory said.

"Like 'swamp ass'," Matilda said.

"What the hell is 'swamp ass'?" Ron asked.

"When your ass crack gets so sweaty it turns into a literal swamp," Matilda said. "At least that's what Rory told me."

"You really need to be nicer to your pureblood friends who have no idea what you're talking about," Harry said.

"But it's so funny to hear her say 'swamp ass' and 'soggy bottom' with no context," Rory said.

She and Harry were both laughing. Hermione was the only other one who seemed to find this remotely amusing and so she smiled at the pair of them. Ron and Matilda still looked like they had a lot of unanswered questions that they knew their best friends weren't going to answer.

Rory and Harry exchanged a look as their laughter quieted. Harry was looking at her again like he had before, but there was a spark in his eye Rory couldn't quite explain. She felt that spark deep within her and it made her grin even wider.

Maybe she had the teensiest, tiniest crush on Harry Potter. But how could she not with him cheering her on as she kicked Draco Malfoy, laughing with her as they created their own inside joke about _The Great British Baking Show_ that their friends wouldn't understand? How could she not when he was so cute and played quidditch. Matilda had said it. Rory thought any bloke who rode a broom was attractive.

Harry Potter was different though. She didn't just like his face or the way he played quidditch (which was, statistically, quite well). She liked him as a person.

But it was just a crush. And as soon as school started and she was thrown back into the sea of boys and school and hormones she would forget about this tiny crush on Harry Potter.

At least she probably would if he stopped looking at her.


	3. Back to School

Hanging out with Harry Potter had not turned into the fun fest Rory hoped it would be.

The quidditch match was fantastic. She spent the whole game tucked between Harry and Ron, shouting and screaming excitedly the whole game and getting into in-depth analysis with Ron. When Viktor Krum pulled off a Wronski Feint, Harry, Rory, and the Weasley children nearly cried with admiration. It was beautiful. Watching Bulgaria catch the snitch, but Ireland's win was not unprecedented, but it left everyone in an uproar.

Back in their tent that evening, they all sang and danced and cheered. Rory could admit that even she was going a little overboard on the Viktor Krum admiration, but Ron had spurred her on, and they fed off each other's energy.

Harry was enamored by the both of them though. The more excited Rory and Ron got, the more excited he got. Rory suspected it was just fun to see your best friend excited about something. She wagered that even Matilda might've been excited for Rory, had Matilda not found a reason to go on a walk with Fred Weasley when they got back to the tent.

And then the night erupted in chaos. Deatheaters, Voldemort's supporters, attacked the camp. A dark mark, Voldemort's mark, erupted in the sky (which usually signaled someone's death), and ministry officials there questioning Harry, questioning his friends, wondering what happened.

All Harry could say was that in the chaos he was knocked out, and when he awoke he saw someone put the dark mark in the sky. The rest of the party had been whisked away until they'd found him.

It was quite a night. Rory wrote to her father and Sirius about it. So had Harry.

It was all rather terrifying. Harry's staring and sidelong glances at Rory seemed to fade into a distant memory as she remembered that Harry Potter meant trouble. With her father a known werewolf and her biological father a "known" murderer, Rory had enough trouble to deal with this year on her own. Although she was thankful, news about Sirius Black hadn't gotten around to most students.

But then they were on the train back to Hogwarts and all they had to do was gossip about the World Cup and why things like dress robes had been added to their supply list, or why most parents weren't going to be bring their children home for Christmas break.

Draco Malfoy seemed to know the answer but didn't divulge it. Everyone else was tight-lipped.

"Maybe they're throwing a stupidly big Christmas party or something," Rory suggested. "But I dunno if there's a party big enough to get me excited about not spending the holiday with my dad, which I would never do barring the intervention of the full moon. But he insists I'll want to stay at school this year for break."

"Maybe we'll have a dance," Matilda suggested.

The five of them were tucked into a compartment on the train again, the same as they had been last year. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Rory, and Matilda, but this year by choice rather than necessity.

"A dance?" Rory asked. She shook her head. "No thanks. I can barely walk to class without falling over myself. I'm not going to dance in front of anyone."

"Well, I'll be your date," Matilda said.

Rory scoffed. "Fat chance. Soon as people hear a whisper of there being a dance they're all going to seek out you and your aggressively beautiful face."

"My beauty is not that aggressive," Matilda said. "Besides. I'm saving it for someone in particular and I guarantee he won't mind taking two beautiful girls to the ball."

Ron groaned. "You're not talking about Fred are you?"

"He has a brother," Matilda said.

Fred and Matilda's camp side flirting had not gone unnoticed by anyone. It was almost certain to turn into something. Matilda and Fred weren't the types to not go all-in on everything.

"Well, Fred and George Weasley are a bit much for me," Rory said.

"You kicked Draco Malfoy in the shin two days ago," Matilda said.

"That is pretty badass," Harry said. And even as the others agreed, she only heard Harry's compliment. Despite the danger, his mere presence had thrown her into and the fact that he was always attracting that very same sort of trouble, he was still Harry Potter. He was still handsome and kind. And he was still looking at her. Worse yet, he was talking to her.

Rory had kiboshed most of the crush that had popped up at the World Cup, but a little more of it sprouted every time he spoke to her because he was freaking Harry Potter.

"Fred and George Weasley are not a matter of being badass, they are a matter of 'fuck around and find out' and let me tell you now, that I am not a scientist," Rory said.

"Accurate," Ron said. "Not the scientist thing. The 'fuck around and find out' thing."

Rory nodded.

The cabin door slid open and in walked Neville, holding his toad, Trevor.

Matilda was Rory's best friend, but if Rory had a best guy friend, it was Neville. She'd rattled off so many random secrets to Neville and had been offered so many free hugs and open ears from Neville that it made all other boys in their year pale in comparison. Neville was a true gem.

"Neville, what's up," Rory said. "And how's our boy Trevor doing?"

"Not making his way into any choirs I'm afraid," Neville replied, taking a seat.

Rory was one of the members of Professor Flitwick's choir, which heavily featured the accompaniment of frogs and toads. They'd been leaning on their professor to let them do more contemporary music and add actual instruments like pianos and guitars and drums lately. So far, only the piano had been sanctioned as a possibility.

"Luckily, I still think toads are quite cute," Rory said. "Plus did you know, there are toads on every continent except Antarctica and that they're not generally present on islands like New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar or-."

"We get it, Hermione Junior," Ron said.

Rory scoffed. "I'm hardly Hermione Junior. Hermione Granger can fill you in on all your Hogwarts facts, but I'm here with all your muggle fun facts. So step off, Weasley. Bet Granger doesn't know what the most venomous snake in the world is."

"Well, a basilisk probably," Hermione said.

Rory paused for a moment. "Okay, that's probably true, but a herpetologist would say it's the Inland taipan. So, there you go."

"Ron, you really don't have any idea what's happening this year? Matilda asked, quickly changing the subject.

"'Fraid not," he said. "Dad wants it to be a surprise."

The door to their cabin opened again and there stood Draco Malfoy with his cohorts Crabbe and Goyle. Rory rolled her eyes. It was someone else's turn today.

Insults were exchanged as Rory inspected her fingernails until he said her name.

"Lupin," he said, "not good enough to look at me after you nearly broke my leg?"

Rory looked at him and scoffed. "Do you have paper skin and glass bones or something? I'm not very strong."

Draco glared at her. "You think I should be afraid of you because of your dad? My father told me all about who your _birth_ father is."

"If you have something other than Mattie's father being a murderer, Ron being poor, Hermione being muggle-born, Harry's parents being dead, Neville's existence, and my dad being a werewolf and also me being poor, to throw at us today, by all means, bring it on. Otherwise, I'm going to eviscerate you with my words."

"Just glossing over that your real dad is a killer too then?" Draco asked.

Rory pouted. Of course. Malfoy knew Sirius Black was her father.

"So, let me get this straight, you're really going to threaten a girl whose father is an escaped serial killer?" Rory asked.

Draco glared at me. "You'll get yours, Lupin."

"Have a lovely term, Malfoy," Rory said as she waved politely.

He told his cronies that it was starting to smell like the loo so they should move on. But they knew they'd bested him.

"That's twice now I think Malfoy has forgotten I even exist thanks to you," Harry said.

"The male ego is fragile," Rory said. "At least in his case. The moment a girl smarter than him shuts him down he retaliates. But if he happens to know your parentage and that it happens to be quite scary, he might back down."

"I'm a bit lost, I'm afraid," Neville said.

Never one to lie, Rory told Neville the same truth she told Matilda. Sirius Black was her biological father and Harry's godfather. Remus Lupin was indeed a werewolf and that was why he'd left Hogwarts when the rumor broke.

"Malfoy really is the worst isn't he?" Neville asked.

"To the extreme," Rory said. "It's hard to imagine there are people out there who make laws based on things people have no control over like being a werewolf or a muggle-born."

"Or having a uterus," Neville said.

The girls all chimed in with their agreement which made him blush.

There was a tap on the door and Fred leaned in.

"Hello, fourth years. All's well I hope," he said.

"What?" Ron asked, clearly bracing himself for whatever came next.

"Actually, I was hoping to borrow Matilda if she wasn't too busy," Fred said.

"I am not too busy actually," Matilda said jumping to her feet. She Took Fred's hand and he led her away.

Rory always wondered what was going to happen to her relationship with Matilda once one of them starting dating. No matter how much they promised each other that they would never, ever let a boy take over their whole lives and make them ignore one another, Rory knew that a boyfriend had a way of becoming your best friend. Which Rory didn't mind; what was better than a person you could tell all your secrets to, but then also snog afterward after all.

She just wondered what happened to the best friend you didn't snog?

Rory supposed she was really going to have to start hanging out with people who weren't Rory now. Probably the five people assembled before her now. Thankfully, she was already decently close with Neville, and Merlin knew her friendship with Harry, Ron, and Hermione had taken a turn.

"I feel like you have to be crazy to date one of the twins," Neville said.

"Don't worry. Mattie's plenty prepared for Fred," Rory said. "Remember when she got herself sent to the hospital wing when Professor Sprout was showing us those tentaculas because she 'wanted to see what would happen' and her whole arm turned purple?"

Neville shuddered. "Don't remind me. Professor Sprout still won't let her in the greenhouse unsupervised."

* * *

"I think this is proof that children are idiots," Rory declared after dinner as they sat in the common room.

Dinner had been filled with excitement when Dumbledore announced that Hogwarts would be hosting the Tri-Wizard tournament: a competition where three students from three different magical schools took on three different tasks to win the coveted Tri-Wizard Cup (and a heap of galleons).

Harry didn't know much about it, but there was some knowledge amongst his fellow classmates. The tasks were fun and exciting. It was a spectacle. It was amazing that they were letting the competition happen again.

"Because last time a kid died," Rory went on. "So, of course, they're not letting anyone who's under 17 compete because the tasks are usually bloody dangerous and you shouldn't need a parent's signature to sign up if you're thinking about throwing yourself into the arms of death."

"I think you're being a bit of a killjoy, honestly," Ron said. "You don't think it'd be cool? Everyone would know who you were if you won."

Rory held her arms up and made an "X" in front of her face.

"That's exactly what I don't want," Rory said. She brought her arms down to sit on her lap. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the fireplace. It gave her an orange sort of glow that danced and flickered behind her and brought heat to her words. "There's going to be reporters and photographers, all it's going to take is one person to look me up to know all about my dad and Sirius Black, and once the latter gets spread around Hogwarts things will be a nightmare. People are already giving me dirty looks about my dad being a werewolf. No thank you."

Harry nodded in agreement. Sirius Black being Rory's biological father one of the worst kept secrets around now. Most, if not all, of the teachers knew. The papers alluded to Sirius Black's daughter but never mentioned Rory by name. It was only a matter of time before Rory did something that set Malfoy off and he blabbed about it. But to have the whole of the wizarding world looking at her under a microscope because of her dad? Because of Voldemort? Because of something she had no control over?

Harry knew what that was like. He didn't blame her for hating the idea of participating.

"All right, so you don't want to participate, why shouldn't the rest of us be allowed?" Ron asked.

"Because, again, if you need a parent to sign a form that says 'we're not responsible if your kid gets maimed and there's a solid possibility that they will' then maybe just don't send the slip out at all and don't put the kids in danger," Rory said. She got to her feet. "And I know, age is so arbitrary sometimes. If you're stupid when you're 16 and 364 days old, you'll probably still be an idiot at 17, but you have to draw the line somewhere. Legally being able to make decisions for yourself seems pretty fair to me. Even if I think this whole thing is cuckoo-bananas."

"I think you're cuckoo-bananas," Ron said.

"Good one," Rory retorted. Ron rolled his eyes. "I'm going to bed. It's always nice chatting with you, Ron." She motioned to Hermione. "I'll see you upstairs."

"I'll be up in a bit," Hermione replied.

Rory nodded and then looked to Harry. Before she could speak Matilda dashed over and embraced her friend.

"I have something very important to tell you," Matilda said. "And I have to tell you so you have my back for when Hermione starts judging me."

"I don't judge you," Hermione said.

"You do, but in a mum sort of way. It's endearing," Matilda said. "I need you to judge me. It keeps me level-headed."

Hermione let out a deep sigh.

"Fine. I was just going up anyway," Rory said.

Matilda released Rory and then gave her a once over. "Aurora Delphine Lupin if I catch you wearing trousers again I might have to throttle you. You've got the legs of a model. You should be in my magazines."

"Oh, shut up," Rory said, smacking her friend on the arm, her cheeks turning red. She looked to Harry quickly. "Goodnight."

She headed towards the dorms, Matilda still showering her with praise about her legs. And Harry couldn't help but notice her legs himself, for the first time in his life. Rory was not tall. Even most of the girls stood over her, but she did have rather nice legs. Slender and toned and-

"What do you think?" Ron asked.

Harry was jolted from his thoughts. "Sorry. About what?"

Hermione snorted and stifled a laugh beside him Harry gently elbowed her in the ribs. Clearly, she'd known where Harry's thoughts had wandered off too.

"The tournament," Ron said.

"Oh. It'll be great to watch," Harry said. "But even if I had the option I'd pass on the eternal glory. I'm looking forward to having a relatively normal school year this time around, actually."

Hermione and Ron chuckled.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Ron said. "Still. It would really be something wouldn't it?"

Harry nodded. Ron was the youngest boy of seven siblings and he'd wound up best friends with Harry Potter who got too much attention for his own good. It made sense that Ron would find something glamorous about being Hogwarts' champion for the tournament.

"Think I'm going to head up as well," Ron said.

"Me too," Harry agreed.

The trio got to their feet, but as Ron walked off, Hermione held Harry back and watched until Ron was safely out of earshot.

"And what do you think of Rory?" she asked.

Harry shook his head. "Nothing. She's nice. I like hanging out with her."

"And staring at her," Hermione said.

"I don't stare at her," Harry said.

"You do. I've seen you do it. So has Matilda and so has Rory," Hermione said.

Right, because why wouldn't he get caught staring at her.

"Do you fancy her?" Hermione asked. "Should I do some digging?"

Harry realized then how convenient it was to have a female best friend for instances like this. If he did like Rory then he could easily send Hermione off to her dorm to see if his interest was reciprocated. But he didn't like Rory. Not in that way anyway.

"No," Harry said. "I guess I just… Never really noticed her before."

"She's quite pretty, don't you think?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, but so are you and I don't fancy you either," Harry said.

Hermione laughed and placed a hand on Harry's shoulder, guiding him to the stairs.

"You're sweet, Harry, but do yourself favor," she said. "If you ever do fancy a girl, don't tell her you think I'm pretty."


	4. The Fish and the Ferret

Defense Against the Dark Arts was Rory's favorite class. The fact that she'd had a different teacher for the subject every year (leading most students to say that the job was jinxed) was a minor detail. She didn't particularly want to be an Auror, but she did find all the methods of dark magic fascinating. Not in such a way that she wanted to explore the dark arts. She was just naturally curious. Remus Lupin had raised a curious child. He'd taught the class himself last year so, of course, she had a natural curiosity about it all.

But this year their teacher was the infamous (forcibly) retired Auror, Alastair "Mad-Eye" Moody. He was called Mad-Eye for two reasons: The first was that he had a prosthetic of sorts that allowed him to see basically everything was the rumor. It was blue and whizzed around in his eye socket independent of his other eye. The second reason he was called Mad-Eye was that, well, he was known to be a bit insane which is what sent him into "retirement" in the first place.

His reputation aside, Rory was excited about his class. He was an Auror. Who was more qualified to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts if not a dark wizard catcher?

Rory sat with Matilda. Everyone in the classroom was buzzing with excitement. Rory wasn't the only one anticipating the class. Moody was famous in the wizarding world after all. He was known as the best Auror around, but also the craziest.

The room went silent when the door opened. He waddled in; in addition to a fake eye, he also had a wooden leg. The old man had seen some things. His eye whizzed around in its socket seeming to observe the whole classroom at once.

He reached the front of the room, leaning against his cane as he did, and turned to face the class. His eye was steady now, and he watched them.

Moody started the class off by introducing himself, aggressively. He listed off his credentials as a former Auror, and then started to dive deep into the dangers that existed in the dark arts.

"Constant vigilance!" he proclaimed. "You. Lupin." Rory sat up in her chair as his eyes set on her. "Your father taught this class last year so I assume you know what the unforgivable curses are."

Rory nodded, feeling caught off guard. "Yes."

"And why are they called unforgivable?" he asked.

"Because they're unforgivable. Use of any one of them will put you in Azkaban," Rory said.

"And you, Cerbus," Moody said.

Matilda bristled in her seat. She'd been less excited about Moody's class. Matilda's father, Pike Cerbus, was currently serving life in Azkaban for murder. He'd killed three people in Ireland. He'd set out to kill their families afterward and was on the run for weeks until none other than Alastor Moody showed up and caught him.

"What's one of the curses?" he asked.

Matilda stared at him for a long moment. Rory was irritated now. Was he bating her?

If he was, Matilda took the bait and answered. "The Imperius Curse."

Moody nodding knowingly. He went behind his desk and produced a small cage with a mouse inside. He walked over to Rory and Matilda's desk and opened the cage. The mouse crawled out and scurried across the desk.

_"Imperio,"_ Moody said aiming his wand at the creature. Immediately the mouse went still. "Maybe we'll have her do a little dance." The mouse on the desk rose onto its hind legs and did indeed start to dance. Everyone began to laugh. "What shall I have her do next? Jump out the window?"

The mouse instantly ran across the girls' desk, leapt off onto the ledge of the window, and smacked itself against the glass. The room fell silent.

"The Imperius Curse gives you full control over the body and mind of your victim," Moody explained. "You could make them walk off a cliff or drown themselves or whatever you wanted."

Beneath their desk, Matilda grabbed Rory's hand and squeezed it tightly.

Pike Cerbus hadn't just murdered three people. He'd used the Imperius Curse and made them walk into a lake and kill themselves.

Moody released the mouse from his grip and picked it up from the windowsill.

"Another one," Moody said. He walked over to Neville. Rory squeezed Matilda's hand now.

"Don't," Matilda whispered.

Rory was fuming. Already Neville was bullied by Snape and now he was going to be bullied by their new professor?

"Longbottom," Moody said.

Neville was shaking and pale. "The… Cruciatis Curse."

Moody aimed his wand at the mouse. _"Crucio."_

Immediately the mouse began to scream, Neville covered his ears. The mouse screamed more and more, twitching and writing in pain. Neville was horrified.

Rory pulled her hand away from Matilda.

"Stop," Matilda warned her. But Rory didn't listen. She was on her feet a second later.

"That's enough!" she shouted. Moody looked over to her. Their eyes met. And then Moody stopped. The mouse stopped screaming. He scooped it up in his hands and Rory returned to her seat. She looked over at Neville who gave her a nod.

"The cruciatis curse is a torture curse. It inflicts your victim with unbearable pain," Moody said. "Til they either die or go insane." He then hobbled over to Harry Potter's desk and sat the mouse down. Hermione was sitting beside him.

"And do you know the last curse?" Moody asked.

Harry shook his head. Moody looked to Hermione. She knew everything, but seeing Neville get so upset had put her off as well. She wouldn't be answering any of Moody's questions today.

_"Avada Kedavra!"_ Moody said. There was a flash of green light. And then the mouse laid dead on their desk. "The killing curse."

Rory saw Harry's eyes go wide at seeing that light. Just once during first year she remembered Ron asking him if he remembered his parents and how they died.

"I only remember a bright green light," Harry had said.

And now he knew how his parents had been killed.

"No one has ever faced the killing curse and lived," Moody said. "With one exception." He gestured at Harry who seemed to barely notice.

More than ever, Rory wished her father had not quit his job.

When class was over, Matilda and Rory were quickly at Neville's side.

"What a raging cunt," Rory said.

"Language, Sweets," Matilda said. "Though you are correct."

"It's fine," Neville said.

"It's not fine. He's an asshole," Rory said. "He waltzed right into our class and said 'let me retraumatize three teenagers today.' To perform those curses in a classroom is outrageous. I almost want to say something to Dumbledore."

"Don't bother," Matilda said.

"Yeah. It's not worth it," Neville said.

Rory pouted. She hated seeing her friends upset.

"Well I have to do something for you after all that," Rory said.

"He gave you shit too," Matilda said.

"Yeah, but that was to lull everyone into a false sense of comfort. 'Oh, Aurora Lupin's dad who's a werewolf was a teacher last year, let's test how smart she is. Surprise! I'm actually going to mentally abuse your classmates. T'was a ruse'," Rory said.

"You can be quite dramatic when you want to be," Neville said.

Rory scoffed. "Don't talk to me about dramatic after Moody's display in class."

"I love that you love us so passionately and fiercely, but you also need to remember to calm down sometimes," Matilda said.

"Except with Snape. Feel free to go off on him any time," Neville said.

* * *

There was only one reason Harry was still taking Divination: the class was easy. Also, Trelawney had kind of predicted Sirius finding him and the truth coming out about everything. And in their first class of the year, she'd seen "the grim" in both Harry and Rory's mugs. Although it was likely Sirius they were seeing in their cups and not an omen of death, being that they were both alive and well.

There was some truth in divination, even though a lot of it was hokey.

Rory and Matilda arrived in class giggling already and Trelawney rose to her feet.

"No, no," she said. "None of that this year. Your constant chattering clouds my inner eye and makes me a less effective seer. You may not sit together."

"But Professor," Matilda said started.

Trelawney shook her head. "Potter, sit with Lupin."

"Looks like it's you and me this year, Weasley," Matilda said, taking Harry's seat.

Harry knew for a fact that, though Matilda was funny and beautiful, Ron was kind of terrified of her because of her aforementioned personality and looks.

Harry sat beside Matilda and she leaned over to whisper in his ear.

"If she could really predict the future she'd know that Mattie is going to be obnoxious no matter who she sits with," Rory said.

Harry chuckled and they pulled their books out. He was pretty sure Rory could be pretty chatty with anyone as well.

Trelawney began her lecture. They were starting off with astrology. She began with how different magical astrology was different from muggle astrology, but Harry couldn't tell the difference. Their assignment for the rest of the class was to use their books to give an accurate depiction of what the rest of their partner's day would look like.

"Would you like to go first, or shall I?" Rory asked.

"I can try," Harry said. Rory chuckled and Harry opened his book. "When's your birthday?"

"August first," she replied.

"That's the day after mine," he said.

She chuckled. "So we're both Leos. That's supposed to make us good leaders, self-confident, dramatic, and capable of uniting divided groups towards a shared cause."

"Memorized the book then, have you?" Harry asked.

Rory shook her head. "I read a lot of muggle magazines. It's not as different as our professor would have us believe."

Harry looked through the book. "So, as a Leo born on the first of August, today you're going to have… Something surprising happen. You'll start building an unexpected relationship."

"And one day I'm going to marry a rich man," Rory said.

"I'm shocked that's not in here actually," Harry said.

"You're at least as good as a fortune teller I saw when I was nine in London," Rory said. "But at least I'll have a good day." She grabbed Harry's book rather than opening her own. She began to read. "Let me see. You, Harry Potter, are in for a few trials, nothing horrible. You'll defend a loved one against a rival."

Then Rory paused. She was looking at the book, but it was clear she wasn't reading it.

"Rory?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Sorry. Zoned out for a moment. Where was I? Right, a rival is going to attack someone you love, and…" She looked up from her book and out ahead of her. "A ferret."

"A ferret? It says that?" Harry asked.

"No. But I think my inner eye says you're going to encounter a ferret so I repeated it," Rory said. She laughed and looked back to the book. The rest of her prediction was as non-specific as he had been.

"Do you believe in any of this?" Harry asked.

Rory nodded. "I don't think every seer is authentic, and I don' think everyone is capable of accessing their so-called 'inner eye.' I do think it's worthwhile to understand it so when you see actual divination you can tell. But expecting everyone to be capable of this is not realistic. It's like, yes, technically anyone is capable of flying, but I can't because-."

"You'll throw up on Pansy Parkinson," Harry said.

Rory snorted, drawing Trelawney's gaze for a moment. Rory held up his book and Trelawney looked away.

"Exactly. Can't judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree and all that," Rory said. Harry cocked an eyebrow at her. "Einstein. 'Everyone is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will spend its entire life believing it's stupid.'"

"Wow," Harry said. "That makes me feel really good about how average a student I am."

"Average? Harry Potter, you are exceptional at defense against the dark arts. You only feel inadequate because Hermione is your best friend and she's exceptional at literally everything," Rory said. "Except flying and divination. Can't be good at everything."

"I guess not," Harry said. "What are you bad at, aside from flying?"

"Well, I'm really good at transfigurations and potions, and I'm basically just good at all the other things," Rory said. Harry laughed.

"So you're a fish who can climb a tree?" Harry said. Rory laughed.

"That did come off as a bit arrogant," Rory said.

"Self-confidence is a trait of Leos," Harry said. Rory smiled. She really did have a pretty smile. As soon as he had the thought, heat crept into his cheeks and he looked away. There was no reason for him to feel embarrassed at the thought. She just legitimately had a pretty smile. Everyone had to think it.

"I must be the only Leo who's a fish then," Rory replied.

"A fish who climbs trees," he said. She smiled again and Harry looked away.

Trelawney dismissed class and they started to gather their things. Rory was moving slower than he was, and Harry was standing before she'd closed her bag.

"See you later, Fish," he said.

Rory laughed. "See you later, Harry."

* * *

After classes, Rory, Matilda, and Neville sat in the courtyard. This felt like it had been the longest first day of class ever for Rory. Between Defense Against the Dark Arts, everyone talking nonstop about the Tri-Wizard tournament, and the weird moment she'd had in Divination while telling Harry's fortune, her brain had been all over the place.

"Poor Ron didn't even know what to say to me," Matilda said. "Is my beauty really that intimidating?"

"What beauty? I think you look like a potato," Neville teased.

Matilda whacked him upside the head with her charms book.

"It's not your beauty that Ron is intimidated by. It's just you as a person," Rory said.

Matilda scoffed and looked across the courtyard to Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"Hey, Weasley," Matilda shouted. Ron looked over to her. "Which is it that you find more intimidating, my looks or my personality?"

Neville and Rory groaned though they could hear Harry and Hermione laughing across the way.

"Definitely your personality," Neville said.

"I find it hard to believe I have an intimidating personality being that you hang out with me," Matilda said.

"That's because you forced your friendship upon me," Neville said. "I didn't have a choice."

"Hence your personality," Rory said.

"Blimey, smells like the loo out here." There was an audible groan from the six Gryffindor's as Draco Malfoy stalked outside, his two cronies, Crabbe and Goyle in tow.

"Well, it was peaceful while it lasted," Rory said, turning her attention back to her book.

"What was that, Lupin? Not polite to talk under your breath," Malfoy said.

"Your entire existence is impolite," she replied dismissively.

"You still have the gal to talk to me like that after what you did at the cup? You're lucky my father didn't press charges," Malfoy said.

"Should we be concerned for your health? You survive getting 'attacked' by a hippogriff, only to be brought to your knees by the smallest girl in your year? Do you need more calcium in your diet?" Rory asked. "Like I said, paper skin and glass bones, this one."

Ron snickered which caused Malfoy to turn his sights on him.

"You're having a laugh, Weasley? Not checked out the _Prophet_ today then?" Malfoy asked.

"Piss off, Malfoy," Ron replied.

"Aww, guess you did then," Malfoy said. "What was it they said?"

"Malfoy, shut up," Harry said. "Can't even have a moment of peace with you showing up and ruining it."

Harry was Malfoy's favorite target. Harry was more than used to it by now. Usually, when he saw Malfoy, Harry prepared himself to physically fight him. Even now, he was standing, prepared for whatever Malfoy was going to throw his way.

"Potter to the rescue, as usual," Malfoy teased. "Couldn't stop his parents getting killed, now he's got to save everyone else. Is that it?"

Malfoy said things to intentionally get a rise out of Harry, and it was always completely disrespectful.

Harry took a step toward Malfoy, who drew his wand. A second later and the Slytherin before them shrank down and in his place a ferret. The courtyard burst into laughter as Moody hobbled forward, his own wand drawn on Malfoy.

"Cowardly to draw your wand on someone that means you no harm," Moody said. "That ought to teach you a lesson."

Malfoy the Ferret bounced up and down in the air under the control of Moody's wand. A second later, Professor McGonagall appeared. She walked over and observed the scene for the moment.

"What on earth is going here?" she asked. Then she saw Malfoy. "Is that a student?"

"Technically, it's a ferret," Moody said.

Another wave of giggles as McGonagall demanded he change Malfoy back to normal. A second later, Malfoy was sitting on the ground, disheveled. Everyone continued to laugh as Malfoy scrambled to his feet and ran off. McGonagall continued to scold Moody.

"We do _not_ transfigure our students as punishment," she said.

"Noted," Moody said.

When the scolding was over and the laughter died, Moody hobbled over to Rory, Neville, and Matilda.

"Longbottom," he said, his eye whizzing in his head. "My office. C'mon."

Moody hobbled off, holding himself up on his cane without another word to Neville. He starred at his friends before they urged him to go follow. If Moody was going to be intense in class, there was no telling what he'd do if you didn't follow directions.

"He's a cunt, but I do appreciate him giving Malfoy what he deserves," Rory said after Neville had gone. "Maybe he's going to apologize."

"Yes, I'm sure I'll be next in line for the Mad-Eye Moody apology tour," Matilda laughed. She glanced across the courtyard and then opened her charms book again. "Why is Harry Potter staring at you? Again?"

Rory glanced up from her book and her eyes met Harry's. She expected him to look away, but instead, he started towards her. She closed her book and sat up straight.

"Can I talk to you for a minute, Rory?" he asked.

"Uh, sure," she replied. She got up and they walked out of earshot of the others. "What's up?"

"A ferret?" he asked. Rory raised an eyebrow at him. "Divination. Don't you remember?"

Right. Divination. She remembered. She'd grabbed Harry's book to read his fortune for the day. Just as she'd gotten started she paused and had a flash of something in her mind—a ferret. She'd shaken it off as a random thought, but as she continued to try to read the book, the ferret overtook her brain.

"Oh, yeah," Rory said. "A fluke I guess. I suppose everyone's inner eye has got to work occasionally."

"That's a very specific fluke," Harry said.

Rory shrugged. "Really, Harry. I got lucky."

Harry chuckled. "Maybe your tree climbing abilities extend towards Divination as well, Fish."

Rory smiled. "Are you going to keep calling me that now?"

"Only if you keep climbing trees," he said.

Rory felt herself blush as Matilda walked over.

"Do you want to go up to the common room? I'm gonna turn into a lobster if I keep sitting in the sun," Matilda said.

"For sure," Rory said. "See you, Harry."

Harry gave her a wave and walked back to Ron and Hermione. Matilda tossed an arm around Rory as they walked inside.

"What're you blushing for?" Matilda asked.

"Nothing. He's just funny," Rory said. She glanced over her shoulder and saw that Harry had returned to sitting with his friends. Part of her wished that Matilda hadn't interrupted them so she could keep talking to Harry.


	5. Boys Boys Boys

For the first time since he'd started the class last year, Harry found himself looking forward to Divination. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy sitting with his best friend and rolling his eyes during the whole class. It was just different to do it with Rory.

Rory laughed at all of Harry's jokes, even the ones that were terrible. And she so smart. Not quite as smart as Hermione, but she'd clearly read their Divination textbook forwards and backward and knew the answer to every question. Not to mention, she'd had a few more instances of her "lucky guesses" coming to pass. She assured him that, Divination was in fact an actual form of magic and that maybe she just had a knack for it. But Harry was still impressed.

They didn't only talk about Divination though. There was no Quidditch this year and she'd bemoaned her disappointment.

"You were well on your way to being the best seeker in Gryffindor in the last 50 years and now you have to take a year off. What if you get rusty?" she asked him one day. Rory knew Harry's Quidditch stats better than he did.

Rory knew most things better than he did, but she didn't wear it on her sleeve the way Hermione did. She got excellent grades, was well-liked by most of their teachers, and she was fun to be around in class without being intimidated by how smart she was.

"Trelawney actually buys all this nonsense you and Ron turn in?" Rory asked as she looked over his homework.

"She thinks it's excellent," Harry said.

Rory chuckled. Trelawney came by their table and collected their assignments.

"We usually just write down the worst possible thing that can happen, and she approves," Harry said.

"Never mind that neither of you has been maimed yet," Rory said. "But she takes my work too. Who knows what her 'inner eye' sees."

Harry chuckled. Rory was disarming. Most of the time, Harry didn't feel like he could be himself around anyone but Ron and Hermione. But he was starting to feel that way about Rory too. She told him all about the letters she got from Sirius and the weird things they had in common, she had a wealth of knowledge about Quidditch, plus she was funny.

It was nice to have someone other than Ron and Hermione to talk to about things outside of their bubble. Harry was always so consumed with Quidditch and randomly being stalked by Voldemort that he sometimes forgot that there were other extracurriculars and that his peers experienced totally benign problems that didn't involve someone trying to murder them.

"How's choir going?" Harry asked.

Rory had been telling Harry about the current drama within the choir. Professor Flitwick was lamenting that no one wanted to join choir. The club members pointed out that most students didn't want to be accompanied by toads for every song. They were all desperate to sing more contemporary songs or at least use a piano every once in a while.

"Flitwick finally relented, but we're starting with Celestina Warbeck and she's far from contemporary, but at the very least we can take a break from singing with amphibians," Rory said. "And I tried out for a solo, but he gave it to Marley Hawthorn. He said I was excellent, but he's trying to spotlight the seventh years since it's their last year. I said that I think if we're going to be covering the most famous singer in the last hundred years to impress visitors that maybe we should bring out our best vocalists. And then he took five house points from me because apparently, I was being cheeky and that I should work on being more humble. Obviously, Gryffindor's are well-known for their humility."

Harry laughed, earning him a glare from Professor Trelawney. He'd earned several disapproving looks from Trelawney since he'd been made to sit with Rory, proving that he was correct in his assumption that she could get into trouble no matter who she sat with.

"Anyway," Rory said, lowering her voice now, "I'm leaping one hurdle at a time. I'll get my solo, just you wait. Celestina Warbeck doesn't really showcase the full range of my voice anyway."

"I don't think I've heard you sing except with the rest of the choir," Harry said.

"Blame Professor Flitwick. But like I said, I'll have my day in the spotlight soon," Rory said. "What are you going to do without Oliver Wood and the rest of Gryffindor swooning over your superb Quidditch skills this year?"

"Hopefully having a quiet year at school where no one tries to kill me," Harry said.

"I want that for you too," Rory said. "Although, to be fair, no one was actually trying to kill you last year."

"Well, I didn't know that did I?" he asked.

Rory laughed this time. "I guess that's fair."

Harry pulled off his glasses and wiped the lenses clear of dirt.

"I've never seen you without your glasses on," Rory said.

He looked up at her although most of her was hazy and blurry.

"I've never seen you without my glasses on either," he said.

Rory laughed and took the glasses from him. "Your eyesight is really shit isn't it?"

"To be blunt about it, yeah," he said.

Rory reached out and put the glasses back on his face, and then brushed his hair from his eyes. Her fingers trailed against his forehead as she did, and Harry felt his skin go white-hot. She smiled at him, that same smile that always made her gray eyes shimmer and pressed dimples into her cheeks.

"You have nice eyes," she said. She picked up her quill and dipped it in ink. Professor Trelawney had moved to the front of the classroom so it was clear their lecture was about to begin.

"Everyone says I've got my mother's eyes," Harry said.

Rory shrugged and looked over at him, still smiling. "I didn't know your mum. I just know you. And I think your eyes are nice."

* * *

Rory was kicking herself for the rest of the day for her words in Divination. Today was the last day she needed to be distracted by something embarrassing she said to a boy in class. The other two schools participating in the TriWizard Tournament were arriving that evening and she, solo or no solo, she always gave her best when she was onstage.

They were all crowded into the Great Hall, the tables were pushed closer together so that they could accommodate two more tables, one for each visiting school. The choir was currently lined up beside the head table, so they could still their guests entering the hall.

Rory was standing with the only other fourth year in choir, Susan Bones. They'd both joined second year and had come into their own special friendship within the choir. They didn't spend a great deal of time with each other outside of class, but Susan was a calming presence at the very least, and it was nice to have someone to chat with.

"Where even is Durmstrang?" Marley Hawthorn asked.

Marley was a tall, rail-thin, brunette Slytherin who well known for being nasty to pretty much everyone outside of choir and occasionally nasty to those in it behind Flitwick's back. Rory might've come off as arrogant and lacking in humility, but every display of humility Marley put on was just a sickly-sweet act. Rory couldn't wait for her to graduate.

"They just always say it's up north somewhere. They like to keep the location secret," Rory said.

"Wow, a question you finally don't know the answer to," Marley said.

Rory rolled her eyes and an arm came down around her shoulders.

"Hawthorn, how many times do I have to tell you to lay off my buddy, Lupin, here?" Connor O'Malley said.

This was another boy who Rory had embarrassed herself in front of, and probably would continue to embarrass herself in front of until he graduated. Connor had golden blonde hair, sun-kissed olive skin, blue eyes, and a smile that melted her. He was also a seventh year, but in Ravenclaw, so he never teased her about the wealth of knowledge she occasionally spewed.

"It's fine," Rory said, blushing. She was too embarrassed to move out of his embrace, but she also didn't really want him to let her go.

"I think Marley's feeling a little defensive today since she only got the solo today because she's a seventh year, and not because of any actual talent," Connor said.

"Fuck off, O'Malley," Marley said. "I don't see you getting any solos."

"I also didn't go out for one, which greatly decreases my chances of getting one," Connor said.

"I don't have time to waste my voice on you," Marley said. "This is my first solo and I'll not have you ruining it." She waved a hand at them and picked up a glass of water.

"Marley can stuff it. You'll get the next solo," Connor said.

"Thanks," Rory said. He let go of her and she was simultaneously relieved and disappointed.

"You got any plans for Hogsmeade?" Connor asked. "You see we're all allowed to go on Halloween before they pick the champion?"

"I did see. I'm probably just hanging out with Matilda and Neville," Rory said. "What about you?"

"Actually," Connor started, "I was hoping you might be interested in going out with me."

Rory's eyes went wide and beside her, Susan drew in a sharp breath and turned away as if she hadn't been listening.

"Like… Like on a date?" Rory asked.

"Not 'like' a date, an actual date," Connor said. "I promise it'll be fun."

"You really want to go out with me?" Rory asked.

"Of course I do. Who wouldn't?" he asked.

Rory didn't know what to say, so she said the only thing it was appropriate to say when a cute, seventh-year boy asked you out on a date.

"Okay. Yeah. Let's do it," Rory said.

"Looking forward to it," he said.

Rory smiled and looked over to Susan as Connor walked over to one of his friends.

"Merlin, you're lucky," Susan said. "I'm not sure he even knows my name."

Dumbledore rose to his feet as the doors at the front of the Great Hall opened. The room quieted.

"Students and faculty of Hogwarts, it is my pleasure to welcome the students of the student of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and their headmistress Madame Maxime and Durmstrang Institute of Magical Education and their headmaster Igor Karkaroff," Dumbledore announced.

And in they walked. Madame Maxime was easily identifiable dressed in her fancy, French clothing, but she would also stand head and shoulders above Hagrid.

"Blimey, she's huge," Susan whispered. Rory nodded in agreement.

Behind the headmistress were the students of Beauxbatons, dressed in billowy, blue robes. And the students were beautiful, almost frighteningly so. The Great Hall was enamored with them.

"I hear there's a lot of veela and half veela at Beauxbatons," Rory whispered to Susan. That would explain why so many of the students were currently seemed bewitched.

But Rory was now looking past the students of Beauxbatons and to their guests from Durmstang. She recognized Igor Karkaroff, not for standing out from his students, but because she'd seen him in papers because he was a former deatheater, like their potion's master.

Rory was concerned about why there was yet another former deatheater being allowed to be in charge of children, but she was distracted when she saw who was walking beside him. Viktor Krum, the seeker from Bulgaria himself. He seemed smaller in person, but she was still mesmerized by him.

The two schools took their seats as their headmasters came up to the head table and greeted Dumbledore, who then went into a short speech about "International magical cooperation" and building friendships. But then Dumbledore looked to Flitwick, and he to the choir. Rory looked around at her choirmates and noticed that Marley looked a bit off. She was staring at the Durmstang table, particularly Viktor Krum. Rory didn't blame her for being nervous.

"And now, to welcome our guest, Professor Flitwick and the Hogwarts choir have prepared a special arrangement, with a solo led by Miss Marley Hawthorn," Dumbledore said.

There was applause as the choir walked out and took their usual spots in front of the table. Marley stood at the center of them, still looking pale and nervous. Flitwick stood before them, preparing to cue them in. Marley gave him a nod and it was go time.

But Rory watched the nod happen in slow motion. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She was too close to Marley. She needed to move away. Rory didn't know why or how she knew she needed to move, she just did.

She grabbed hold of Susan and shoved her sideways, out of the way, just as Marley opened her mouth to sing and instead vomited all over the floor. Rory and Susan were just barely out of the way and were lucky to not have gotten it all over themselves.

First, there was a wave of gasps, then dead silence.

"Yo, what the fuck," Ara Ashe, a fifth-year Gryffindor whispered behind Rory's head.

As ripples of giggles started to roll through the students, Marley took off, leaving the Great Hall entirely. Flitwick magicked away the sick and for a moment was unsure of whether to continue or even if he should.

_Fuck it_ , Rory thought to herself. It would be more embarrassing to walk off stage at this point. There was nothing to do now but send in the second string.

Rory took Marley's spot in front and started to sing. Flitwick was stunned at first, but then seemed relieved. Soon the choir joined in. When the performance was over, everyone stood and applauded, but Gryffindor made the most noise (and of the Gryffindor's, Matilda screamed the loudest, standing on her seat shouting "Yes, bitch I love it!"). Rory felt it was likely because a Gryffindor saved the day after a Slytherin dropped the ball, but she would take the applause either way.

"Thank you to the Hogwarts choir and their solo led by Miss Aurora Lupin," Dumbledore corrected himself as the choir headed to their respective tables, still being applauded. Rory had to walk past the Durmstrang table to get to her seat and she was stunned when none other than Viktor Krum extended his hand out to Rory.

She took his hand and shook it.

"Vou sound beautiful. Vell done," Viktor said.

Rory nodded. "Thank you."

She walked to her table and sat down next to Ron.

"Did you see that?" she asked.

"Viktor Krum shook your hand!" he said.

"Dude, I know!" she said. She dropped her head onto Ron's shoulder. "I can die now. Viktor Krum shook my hand. He said I sounded 'beautiful.'"

"I hate when you're like this, but I'm also wildly jealous," Matilda said. "Did his hands feel like he could crush yours into dust with minimal effort?"

"Yes," Rory said.

"Amazing," Matilda said.

"Viktor Krum aside," Harry laughed, "you did sound lovely. You killed it, Fish."

Harry high-fived her and she felt more weight in his gaze and the feel of his hand against hers than she had when she'd talked to Viktor Krum moments ago.

"Thanks, Harry," she said, thankful she was already blushing otherwise she would be blushing now.

* * *

Rory got to her room and amidst all the chatter from her roommates, she stopped to write a letter to her dad.

_Dad,_

_The students from the other two schools arrived today. Marley Hawthorn choked during her solo, but I jumped in and took over to uproarious applause (possible I'm exaggerating, but likely not because I am amazing)._

_Viktor Krum (that Quidditch player who's hanging up on a poster in my room) is here and is probably going to be a distraction for me. As for Beauxbatons, they're very French and several of their students are half veela which I'm sure will be distracting for the rest of the students._

_Classes are still going well. I still despise DADA and potions, but continue to get phenomenal grades because I won't let my disdain for Moody or Snape drop my grade point average. I've been enjoying Divination a lot lately, though it's possible that's just because of Harry. He's very funny as it turns out. I'm glad we're hanging out more. He was pleased he finally got to hear me sing today and he said I sounded lovely. Isn't that sweet? It's a shame he won't get to play Quidditch this year. I don't think he quite knows what to do with himself._

_Anyway, take care of yourself and be sure to get enough rest and eat well. Sending you all of my love as always._

_Your Daughter  
Aurora_

She'd thought about mentioning knowing that Marley was going to vomit on the stage, although she didn't know precisely that was going to be the outcome. She knew something was going to happen. But then she thought better of it. Maybe she was just being silly. Marley hadn't looked well. Maybe Rory knew on some primal level what was coming.

"You're always writing letters to your dad," Matilda said as Rory folded her letter.

"I know. It's like I love him and like to keep him informed or something," Rory said as she folded the letter. "I was just updating him about the tournament and the choir."

"And how you're all set to marry Viktor Krum," Lavender said.

"Oh, hush. He shook my hand," Rory said.

"I'm sure your attention lays elsewhere right now," Parvati said.

And then Rory remembered something she forgot to put in her letter.

"Shit. Connor," Rory said.

"What about him?" Matilda asked.

"He asked me out today," Rory said.

"Connor O'Malley asked you on a date and you forgot?" Matilda asked.

"Sorry. I got distracted by Marley puking and the solo and Krum," Rory said.

"Are you going to go out with him?" Hermione asked.

"Of course I am. I'm not insane," Rory said.

"Hmm," Matilda hummed.

"What?" Rory asked.

"Oh, nothing. We all just thought you might be interested in someone else," Lavender said.

"Who?" Rory asked. She turned to look at her friends. They all seemed keen to not make eye contact with her, but Rory knew how to handle that problem. She just had to get to the weakest link. "Who, Hermione?"

Hermione looked over to her. She wanted to keep her mouth closed, but Rory stared at her hard. Hermione finally relented.

"It's just… You've been spending a lot of time with Harry lately," she said.

Rory scoffed but turned away from Hermione. "Harry? That's crazy. We're just friends. Like, good friends, but that's it."

Matilda nodded but seemed unconvinced. "You sure?"

"Yes," Rory said. "I mean, maybe I had a small crush on him over the summer, but you said so yourself, everyone has had a crush on Harry Potter."

"I haven't," Hermione scoffed.

"Oh, that's because you're the exception to the rule. You're like his sister," Matilda said.

Hermione nodded. "And you don't have a crush on Harry anymore?"

"I do not," Rory said.

"Why did he call you 'Fish?'" Matilda asked.

"I've been curious about that too. He's done it a lot of times," Hermione said.

"It's just an inside joke. A silly nickname he came up with," Rory said.

"Does Harry like Rory?" Parvati asked.

"Harry Potter has no idea what's going on inside of his own head if it doesn't have to do with Quidditch so I certainly have no idea," Hermione said. "But, I have been suspicious."

"Have we considered that this doesn't matter because I'm going on a date with Connor," Rory said.

"Of course," Matilda said. "And let's face it. Connor O'Malley is a treat to look at."

Rory nodded, but she was feeling unsure about Connor, because he was such a treat to look at, and he was so smart. And Rory was just… Rory.

"Weird though, him asking me out," Rory said.

"Why?" Hermione asked.

"I'm just, not the kind of girl boys like. Not to mention a good handful of the students still howl at me when I walk through the halls because they're being oh-so-funny about my dad," Rory said.

"Well, you had a glow up," Matilda said. "You went from, quiet but feisty Rory Lupin, to kicking Malfoy in the shins, threatening people who come after your dad, not to mention you grew tits over the summer."

"My tits did not magically appear over the summer, thank you," Rory said, though she would concede that yes, she did have to have the awkward conversation with her dad about needing to buy new bras over vacation.

"It'll be worse after today," Parvati said. "What with your solo and Viktor Krum speaking to you. And if Connor is paying attention to you. Plus you're suddenly besties with Harry."

"We're not besties. We're just good friends," Rory said. "Am I not allowed to have friends who are guys?"

"You are," Matilda said. "But I'm willing to bet at least a few of them want to be friendlier."


	6. The Prediction

Harry was only a little disappointed when Hermione told him that Rory was going to go on a date with Connor O'Malley. But he would get over it. He didn't like Rory that much. He just kind of liked hanging out with her and thought she was funny and pretty and smart. Harry had no intention of asking her out to Hogsmeade himself or asking her out at all because it was a dumb crush and he'd get over it.

Absolutely nothing had changed between him and Rory in the meantime. They still spent all of Divination earning dirty looks from Trelawney for chatting too much, they still found excuses to hang out outside of class and talk about whatever. They'd even hung out in the library on several occasions to study.

But that was fine, because Rory was his friend, and he was so happy she was dating a boy that she'd had a crush on for ages.

Even on the morning of Halloween when Connor came over to walk Rory to Hogsmeade, Harry happily waved goodbye to her.

"Sorry," Hermione said when Rory was gone.

"Stop apologizing. Why are you apologizing?" Harry asked.

"Because you like her-."

"I don't like her. I mean, I did, a bit, but it's fine. It's fine," Harry said. "It's good she's going out with O'Malley. They've got more in common."

"If you say so," Ron said, rolling his eyes. "Connor O'Malley seems like a bit of an idiot if you ask me. At least he never has any idea what Rory's talking about half the time."

Harry would concede that, yes, Connor had no idea who ABBA was, which was sad because Rory loved ABBA. And even though both his parents were muggleborn wizards, he'd never owned a television and so had never seen _British Bake-Off_ which Rory also loved. Connor had never even seen an episode of _Glee_ which was the reason Rory wanted to join the choir in the first place.

But Rory was perfectly welcome to date whomever she liked.

"If Rory likes him, then I'm sure he's fine," Harry said. "Can we please stop talking about it?"

Ron and Hermione backed off and they headed out to Hogsmeade.

It was the first time, Harry realized, that he was freely able to walk to Hogsmeade without an invisibility cloak or without the aid of secret passageways. He was going to be able to drink a butterbeer out in the open and have fun with his friends in front of everyone. Never mind that his godfather had been the one to sign his permission slip, and never mind the fact that his godfather was also a (wrongly) convicted murderer who was currently on the run from the law. Minor details.

Harry was going to Hogsmeade without fear of detection for the first time.

Their first stop was Honeyduke's. Harry, Ron, and Hermione bought enough sweets to rot all of their teeth, and Harry happily munched a small bag of wriggling gummy snakes as they headed to the Three Broomsticks. Inside, they ordered three butterbeers. Harry sipped the warm liquid and reveled in the company of his friends.

In the middle of their conversation, they were hit with a gust of cool autumn air. Their attention went to the door and Rory and Connor walked inside. They walked up to the bar and Harry took a sip of his drink.

"You okay?" Hermione asked.

"Don't take this the wrong way, Hermione, but I'm going whack you if you ask me that again—And don't apologize," he said.

Hermione chuckled and took a sip of her own drink. "Who do you reckon will get picked for the tournament from Hogwarts?"

"I'm honestly hoping it will be Angelina," Harry said with a confident nod. She was a shoo-in to be Quidditch captain next year which were all the qualifications Harry thought one might need to be champion. But the truth was he had no idea.

"I heard Connor entered," Ron said. Hermione elbowed him in the ribs and shushed him.

"You can talk about him. You can say his name. It's not a big deal," Harry said.

"I just feel so stupid. I was so sure she liked you," Hermione said.

"It doesn't matter," Harry said. "It's fine."

"Hello."

They all jumped at Rory's sudden appearance at the table.

"Hey," Ron said. "How's your date going?"

She sighed. "It's going," she said. She didn't elaborate or smile or make any indication that she was having a good time. Harry felt a little relieved at this, but also a little bad. "He's just getting us drinks. Thought I'd sneak away and say hello. How's your day been so far?"

"Excellent," Harry said. "I didn't get to come last year, as you know."

Rory chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Yes. You were absolutely in the castle during every Hogsmeade visit last year."

Harry had almost gotten into trouble last year for throwing a mud ball at Draco Malfoy during his trip and his invisibility cloak had fallen off his head. He'd made it back to the castle in time to find Rory who'd returned from Hogsmeade early to have tea with her dad and without even asking, she lied to Snape and said that she'd been with Harry for over an hour in the common room since she'd finished tea with her dad and that Harry couldn't have possibly been in Hogsmeade.

Rory had never brought it up again after that and told Harry she'd do it for anyone who was trying to get out of trouble with Snape. But Harry didn't think that was necessarily true.

"Well, according to you, I was," Harry said.

Rory winked at him as Connor called her name from across the pub. Rory sighed and looked at Hermione.

"I'll let you know if things are more eventful," Rory said. Hermione nodded and Rory walked away.

"More eventful?" Ron asked.

"It's not going well," Hermione said.

"Wouldn't she know she doesn't like him before they went out? She sees him at rehearsal twice a week," Ron said.

"Yeah, but they're always talking about choir and such. They might not have had a real conversation," Hermione said. "And now that they're on a date she probably realizes that she doesn't like him as much." Then she looked up at Harry. "Or that she realized she fancies someone else."

"Can you please stop," Harry said. "I'm going to join the church if you don't let this go. I'm never going to have a crush on anyone else ever again because of you."

"You two would just be so-."

Ron shushed Hermione, putting a finger to his lips. She swatted him away.

"He said shut it up," Ron said.

"I'm sorry. My best friends are two boys and I never thought I'd have the opportunity to play matchmaker, but here we are," Hermione said. "Don't you think Rory and Harry would be so cute though? They'd be a very photogenic couple."

"I dunno," Ron said. "I don't know what you're even talking about. What does it mean that they'd be cute together?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Nothing I guess. But I think her date isn't going well because she likes Harry and because Connor is actually boring."

"You're actually boring," Ron said. Hermione punched him in the arm and Ron wailed. "I was joking."

"Sure," Hermione said with a roll of her eyes. "What do you think, Harry?"

"Ron's joking. You're not boring," Harry said.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "You're both useless."

* * *

Connor was sweet, and he was so handsome, but Rory didn't like him. Well, she did like him. She desperately wanted him to be more interesting than he was, but he wasn't. Still, she felt relieved to see Harry and his friends at the Three Broomsticks so she could take a breather. She wasn't feeling like the date was going miserably, but she knew that he was not boyfriend material.

But Rory still felt so enchanted being around Connor. He was a little bit boring, but he was so handsome, and when he laughed and smiled, Rory was utterly taken with him.

When they got back to Hogwarts and Rory made it back to the Gryffindor Common Room, she sat on the couch in the common room and let out a long deep sigh. Part of her heart would always love and want to be around Connor, but she was so relieved to be away from him for a while.

Was it supposed to be this exhausting dating someone? Every conversation felt forced and awkward. Rory couldn't imagine he felt the date went spectacularly. She thought it was fine. She didn't feel it was horrible or great one way or the other. But it was not the magical, wonderful, special first date she'd hoped it would be.

She took the time alone to sit in her dorm and write a letter to Sirius. She knew he was probably back in the country by now: Harry had alerted him that his scar had been hurting (something that had not happened since Voldemort had been in his immediate proximity three years ago) and Sirius said he would come straight away.

Rory was glad to hear that Sirius returned so urgently. If Rory felt she was too ill at school she could write a letter to her dad and he'd be there the next day, but Harry had no one but Sirius and maybe her own dad to look after him.

She'd written back and forth with Sirius several times over the summer and once since school had started. Now seemed as good a time as any to give him an update. Besides, she hadn't told her dad about Connor or her date and didn't know where to start. Maybe telling Sirius would ease her mind a bit.

_Dear Dog Dad,_

_Long time no chat. I hope you're well and safe. Sorry I haven't written much since school started. I'm very academically minded and I also make time to write two letters a week to my dad. Should I pencil you in for twice-weekly letters or will that blow your cover? Let me know. I can be very chatty if you want me to be._

_I did want to mention, I went on a date with a boy today. His name is Connor. He's a 7_ _th_ _year and he's very sweet. He's in choir with me. We went to Hogsmeade together today and it was fine. No complaints, but also nothing to write home about either. So I'm not even sure why I'm writing this._

_I didn't tell Dad about the date or the boy, not because I was hiding it, but because I legitimately forgot. I guess that's not a good sign as boys go. My roommates (Hermione included) all seem to think I fancy Harry which is ridiculous. Even so, I feel weird that I didn't tell Dad and feel weird that I have to tell him I went on my first date with a boy after the fact. I will tell him because I tell him everything, but it's weird talking to my dad about boys because none of them have paid me any attention until now._

_Anyway, thanks for keeping in touch with Harry. It's good for him, I've learned. I'm glad he has someone like Dad in his life (even if his aunt was supposed to be that someone in his life and she completely dropped the ball and is just awful, but it's none of my business since he says he's fine, but I still think it's wildly unfair he got landed with those muggles) And I think that it's good that Harry and I are friends now. For whatever reason._

_Keep in touch. Stay safe. A thousand times stay safe._

_Much Love,_

_Aurora_

She folded up the letter and ran it off to the owlery. As she was leaving she bumped into none other than Harry Potter himself. They both laughed.

"Hello," she said. "What brings you?"

"I bought some treats for Hedwig," Harry said. "You?"

"Sent a letter Sirius," Rory said.

"Oh, good," Harry said.

They were both silent for a beat until Harry spoke up again.

"How'd the rest of your date go?" he asked.

"Fine," Rory said. "Just… Fine. It was fine."

She felt as though she was making it sound worse than it was. It really was just fine. She'd gone out with a boy who liked her, and they'd hung out and chatted like they were casual acquaintances.

But he'd tried to kiss her. Which she was trying to forget. But the exchange was awkward.

"You all right?" Harry asked.

Rory perked up and smiled at him. "Of course I am."

She followed him back into the owlery and watched him give the small treats to his snowy, white owl.

"Hedwig is really the loveliest owl here," Rory said. "I've always thought so."

"She is," Harry said. "And because she's so recognizable, I can't send her off with letters to Sirius, so she's been a bit bored."

"If she's up for it, she can send my letters to my dad," Rory said. She reached out to pet Hedwig and the owl bit her finger Rory jumped back with a hiss, nursing her injured digit. "Or not."

"Sorry. I've never seen her do that before," Harry said. He gave the owl a stern look, which Hedwig barely seemed to register. Then he turned to Rory. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she said. "She must be jealous seeing you up here giving someone else attention."

"I guess so," Harry said. "She's usually fine though."

"Don't worry," Rory said. "I'm not insulted." She reached out to pet Hedwig again, but her fingers were pecked at again, though Rory was lucky to retreat before she was injured this time.

"Don't mind me saying so, but it doesn't sound like you're keen on the idea of going out with O'Malley again," Harry said.

Rory shook her head. "No. There's just no… Chemistry between us."

Harry nodded.

Rory thought long and hard about her next question in the middle of their silence.

"Have you ever kissed anyone, Harry?" Rory asked.

"Uh… No," he replied.

"Me either. I mean. But Connor…" Rory sighed again. Then she laughed. "It's so stupid."

"It's alright," Harry said. "It won't leave the owlery."

Rory paused, double checking that they were alone before she continued.

"Connor tried to kiss me, which I thought was crazy, but I can't imagine he actually thought things were going well enough for that," Rory said. "I just had this idea in my head that I'd go on my first date and have a wonderful time and I'd get a kiss at the end of the night and it was all just so much the opposite of that. I had to tell him I wasn't ready to be kissed yet. And I guess that's technically true, but it was mostly that… I don't like him. I feel like I kind of wasted it."

Harry shrugged. "Just say it doesn't count."

"What?" Rory asked.

"Just… wait until you go on a date with someone you actually like and actually want to kiss," Harry said. "Tell yourself Connor was practice for when it counts."

Rory laughed and felt herself blush. Then she wondered what it would be like to kiss Harry Potter. Because Harry was cute and sweet and it was never awkward anymore when they talked outside of class or about things that had nothing to do with Quidditch or school. And Harry was just a nice person to be around. He was a person she enjoyed being around. And sure, she enjoyed being around Connor too, but Harry was just different. Everything about Harry felt different this year.

And she told herself and her roommates that she absolutely didn't like Harry, but she was starting to feel like a liar.

"Maybe I will," was all Rory said in reply. Because what else could she say?

"I'm sure you'll have plenty of other options," Harry said.

"Doubt it," Rory said.

"Please. You're the coolest girl I know," Harry said.

Rory's whole face went red.

"Only time will tell I guess," Rory said with a shrug. "Thanks for listening. I'm sure I sound like a crazy person."

"Hardly," Harry said. He hugged her, and for a moment, Rory really did feel relieved. But then a strange feeling overtook her again, like the time in divination when she'd held Harry's book. Blue fire. The Goblet of Fire. Paper. Harry.

She pulled away from him quickly, and Harry seemed confused. Rory tried to laugh it off.

"Sorry," she said. "This is a weird question, but you didn't enter the tournament did you?"

Harry shook his head. "No. Couldn't even if I wanted to and definitely didn't want to."

"Right," Rory said. She felt weird, but she thought she should say something, especially since Harry had been the first to suggest this. "Do you remember when I told you about the ferret? And I said it was a one-off?" Harry nodded. "What if it's not a one-off like I thought?"

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I think you're going to be chosen for the tournament," Rory said.

"But I didn't enter," he said.

"I know. But I just… I feel like I _know_ you're going to be chosen," she said. "When I hugged you just now I just… I kind of saw it in my head."

"You saw it in your head?" he asked.

"It sounds ridiculous, I know," Rory said. "But it's just like what happened before."

"So it's happened more than once?" Harry asked.

Rory nodded. "The first time was definitely the ferret thing, but since then… Do you remember when Marley threw up at the performance?"

"I think everyone does," Harry said.

"I knew to move so it didn't get on Susan and me. I just had a feeling," Rory said.

"Bet Pansy wishes she had that kind of foresight," Harry said.

Rory laughed, feeling relieved that Harry wasn't making a big deal out of it.

"You don't think it's weird?" Rory asked.

"Definitely, but I also talk to snakes so I can't really call anyone weird," Harry said. "But I definitely didn't enter the tournament. So, perhaps Malfoy and the choir thing are both coincidences."

Rory sighed. "That does seem more likely." Harry gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "You won't tell anyone, will you?"

"I already told you; it doesn't leave the owlery," he said.


	7. The Goblet of Fire

After his chat with Rory in the owlery, Harry felt a little on edge. He knew that he hadn't entered the TriWizard tournament and therefore had nothing to worry about, but Harry didn't have great luck in general and could usually expect the worst. So one of his friends suddenly turning out to be a seer who predicted he would enter the tournament wasn't too far out of the realm of possibility.

But he chalked most of it up to paranoia.

Rory sat beside him at dinner that night. He could tell that his reassurance hadn't made her anxiety about the tournament disappear completely. Every once in a while he spotted her staring at the Goblet of Fire at the head of the room and watching its blue flames flicker.

"Are you excited to see what happens?" Matilda asked.

"Shame we weren't allowed to enter," Fred said.

"Yeah. I guess there's no pulling one over on Dumbledore," George agreed.

At the start of the tournament, Fred and George made an aging potion and tried to jump the age-line Dumbledore had placed around it. They'd ended up growing beards and heading off the hospital wing and their names had been spit back out by the Goblet.

That thought relaxed Harry some more. Even if someone had snuck his name into the Goblet of Fire, the Goblet wouldn't accept it. He was being silly. Rory was just having weird waking dreams or something. And surely all the other things had just been coincidences. There was no way she could actually predict the future.

As dinner was cleared away and dessert was served, the lights in the Great Hall dimmed and the Goblet grew brighter. Dumbledore stepped forward. A jet of fire sprang forth and from it, a small slip of paper floated down from the sky.

Dumbledore grabbed it and read it.

"The champion from Durmstrang is… Mister Viktor Krum," he announced.

The room erupted into applause. No one was surprised. Harry wouldn't have been shocked if he learned no other students from Durmstrang entered the TriWizard tournament because Krum was Karkaroff's choice for it.

Krum came and stood at the head of the hall with Karkaroff who clapped him firmly on the shoulder.

As the crowd began to settle, another name was ejected.

"And the champion from Beauxbatons… Miss Fleur Delacour," Dumbledore announced.

Fleur was a strikingly beautiful, tall, blonde-haired girl. Harry was suddenly reminded of the Veela from the World Cup and wondered if she might be one.

As Fleur stood beside Krum with Madame Maxime, the Goblet of Fire emitted another name. Harry held his breath. He felt Rory stiffen beside him.

"And the champion from Hogwarts… Is mister Cedric Diggory!"

Hogwarts erupted, especially Hufflepuff who cheered and screamed as Cedric was ushered to the head table.

Rory applauded beside him. He leaned close to whisper in her ear.

"See? I told you," Harry said.

She turned to look at him. "I must just be crazy then, thank goodness"

"Not crazy, just paranoid after all those coincidences," Harry said.

"Can you imagine if you actually-?"

Rory was cut off by the Goblet of Fire ejecting another name. She paled as the room went silent. There were only to be three champions. Why was the Goblet selecting a fourth student? Even the teachers and Barty Crouch from the ministry's International Magical Cooperation looked shocked.

Dumbledore read the name without speaking and then looked straight at Gryffindor's table.

"Fuck," Rory whispered, loud enough that Harry was sure he was the only one who heard.

"Harry Potter," Dumbledore said.

Harry sat for a moment, not in disbelief, but in annoyance, because of course this was happening. Of course Rory had been right about her prediction. Of course a tournament that was only supposed to choose three participants chose a fourth and that it turned out to be Harry. Because why wouldn't it? Why wouldn't he have one, just one single, solitary year of school at Hogwarts?

"Harry Potter," Dumbledore repeated.

From his other side, Hermione nudged him.

"Go," she whispered loudly. But Harry shook his head. He absolutely did not want to go. He'd told everyone, repeatedly how much he did not want to be a part of this tournament and how glad he was to not be allowed to participate, and here he was. Literally being pushed into it. But Hermione gave him a harder nudge, repeating her command and Harry stumbled from his seat.

The first person he looked to was Rory, who was staring back at him. It was possible she was even more terrified of what was happening than he was.

Harry walked up to the head of the room, ignoring the jeers and confusion. Dumbledore, the other headmasters, and Barty Crouch ushered the four champions from the room. So much for that normal year of schooling.

* * *

"You don't actually think he entered do you?" Hermione asked.

"Well, do you have a different explanation?" Ron asked.

"Someone entered Harry against his will," Hermione said.

"I did some reading about the Goblet of Fire," Rory chimed in. She'd looked it up after her conversation with Harry. "There's not much out there about it, but it does say it only chooses champions from three schools. If it's chosen a fourth it's because someone's enchanted it to make four selections from four different schools and Harry's name got entered under the fourth school."

Ron still didn't seem convinced. "Just suspicious is all."

"He's said this entire time that he wanted absolutely nothing to do with this tournament," Rory said. "He's your best friend. Don't you trust him?"

Ron shrugged. Rory didn't have time to argue with Ron, but Hermione did. Rory tuned the pair out as she thought back to the hug in the owlery earlier that day and what it meant for her. Randomly thinking of a ferret and then Malfoy getting turned into one was one thing. Marley looking sickly and then vomiting just where Rory and Susan had been standing could be written off as a bit of luck and instinct.

But Rory saw all of this play out in her head exactly as it'd happened. She'd seen it. She knew it was going to happen and every second that brought the event closer filled her more with dread until was finally over.

There was certainly something happening. But what was she supposed to do about it? The thought of talking to Trelawney about this made her feel exhausted. Professor McGonagall thought Divination was mostly nonsense, so that didn't seem the correct route to go either. She'd have to tell her dad. And Sirius might have answers as well. Maybe her mother was a seer or someone in her mother's family, or someone in the Black family.

Harry didn't return to the Great Hall during dinner and Rory sat in the Common Room waiting for him to get back. When he came in, the lingering students all stared at him, and then returned to their whispered conversations.

"Harry," Rory announced herself. She'd taken a seat by the window, far from the others gathered there. Harry walked over and sat with her. "What happened?"

"You're looking at the fourth champion, I guess," Harry said. "They reckon someone entered me under a fourth school. But no one has any idea who."

Rory pouted and she mulled over a thought in her brain. This was paranoia rather than Divination and she didn't want to get Harry anxious over nothing. But it was all very suspect.

"You have an idea?" Harry asked.

"Well… It's just very suspicious that the best Auror in modern history ends up teaching here the same year you get dragged into this. And even more suspicious that former Death Eater, Igor Karkaroff, happens to show up here as well," Rory said.

"Karkaroff used to be a Death Eater?" Harry asked.

Rory nodded. She motioned down to the parchment in front of her. I've already written a letter to my dad and I'm writing one to my Dog Dad as well," Rory said.

Harry smirked at this. "I call him 'Snuffles' in my letters."

Rory chuckled. "That's brilliant." She felt a small weight lift from her shoulders again but knew there was still more to discuss. "I hope one of them has something useful to say. Both about your situation and mine."

Harry nodded. "You should probably tell someone."

"I know," Rory said. "But Trelawney is just _so_ much, and McGonagall doesn't even really believe Divination is magic. I trust Professor Flitwick more than most of the other teachers, but this isn't exactly his wheelhouse either."

"Talk to Professor Dumbledore," Harry said.

Rory hadn't thought of this but still felt uncomfortable. "I've never really spoken to him much before. That day in the hospital wing last year was the most we'd ever spoken except for the day he came to our flat to give my dad paperwork to sign when he was teaching here."

"I'll go with you," Harry said. Rory was surprised at this proclamation. It didn't even seem like a big deal to Harry. "I talk to Dumbledore plenty. It'll be fine. We can go tomorrow after class."

"You'll really go with me?" Rory asked.

"Of course," Harry said. "You gave me the heads up about all this after all." Rory chuckled and so did Harry. "We can go together after class then?"

Rory nodded. "Sounds good. Thank you."

"And thank you," Harry said. "I'm going to go to bed now. I'm completely wiped after all this. Although I guess I need to write a letter of my own."

"Of course," Rory said. "I'll see you in the morning."

Harry gave her a nod and headed upstairs. She was scared for Harry. She didn't know how to tell him that she hadn't just seen him entered into the tournament, but that she'd felt something else in her vision. She couldn't put a name to it, but it felt dangerous. She was worried. She hoped tomorrow Dumbledore could give her some answers.

* * *

"I'm going to fling that boy into a fire," Hermione said at lunch the next day. Rory knew she meant Ron or Harry because neither of them had said a word to each other today. They'd just glared. It didn't take a seer to deduce that Ron was irritated with Harry for being champion, and Harry was annoyed that Ron was annoyed by it.

"Which one?" Matilda asked.

"I haven't decided which of them is more annoying yet," Hermione said. "Probably Ron. He pulled this same thing last year when he thought Crookshanks ate his pet rat."

"Didn't he though?" Matilda asked.

"Rats generally only live for a year. Scabbers lived for 13. It just died," Hermione said.

Or it turned out to actually be an animagus by the name of Peter Pettigrew, pretending to be dead for 13 years, but that wasn't a story Rory and Hermione weren't allowed to tell.

Harry arrived at the table and sat beside Rory just as he had at breakfast. And Ron sat with Seamus, Dean, and Neville, just as he had that morning.

"Doesn't seem fair Ron gets Neville in the divorce," Matilda said. "Oi, Longbottom!" Neville looked over to Matilda who ushered him to come over. He rolled his eyes hard enough that he could see where this was going, but Neville came over anyone.

"Can't you stop her when she's like this?" Neville asked.

"You know I don't have the energy," Rory replied.

"How do you feel about the legitimacy of Harry being in the tournament?" Matilda asked.

"We're not doing this again are we?" Neville asked.

"Again?" Harry asked.

"Last year when Hermione wasn't speaking to you and Ron we had to have a discussion as well since we sit with you three interchangeably in classes. We had to draw lines to know who fell where," Matilda said.

"By 'we' she means 'she' because we're normal," Rory said.

"Shut up. You were Team Hermione then and you're Team Harry now. Next year when it's Harry's turn to freak out, I'm sure you'll be Team Ron," Matilda said.

"Can I go?" Neville asked, scooching away slightly.

"You didn't answer my question, Nev-Nev," Matilda said.

"Please don't call me that," Neville said.

"What do you think then?" Matilda asked.

"Just answer her so she stops," Rory pleaded.

"I think that someone has tried to kill Harry every year for the past three years so this doesn't seem like a stretch and that Ron might be overreacting, but I don't care either way. I think you're both being stupid," Neville said. "Which is what I said last year too."

"Goddamn moderates," Matilda said. "You may go now."

"Why do you think you can just dismiss me like that," Neville said.

"Why are you walking away then?" Matilda asked.

"Because you're annoying," Neville said.

Once Neville was sitting down Rory shook her head.

"I can't wait for the two of you to get married," she said.

"Piss off!" Matilda said jabbing her across the table with a fork. "I'll have you know things between Fred and I are going somewhere. He didn't ask me to Hogsmeade because he had detention, but promised we'll go to the next one together because he'll be sure not to have detention that week."

"How noble," Rory said. She finished her food and slid her empty plate to the center of the table. "Are we still on for this afternoon with Dumbledore, Harry?"

Harry nodded. "Yep."

"Good. Thanks," she said.

"What're you seeing Dumbledore for?" Hermione asked.

"I'll tell you guys after," Rory said. "A lot of weird stuff has been happening."

"Yeah, I mean Harry Potter's name coming out of the Goblet certainly counts," Matilda said.

"I wasn't even scared or angry when it happened," Harry said. "I just felt kind of like this might as well happen; my life is already so goddamn weird."

Rory laughed, though Hermione and Matilda didn't. Still, she was amused. "You're so funny, Harry." She rose from the table. "I need to get my books for class. I'll see you guys later."

Rory took her bag and skipped away, leaving Harry with the two girls at the table.

"Merlin, why the heck did she go out with Connor?" Matilda asked.

"I know," Hermione agreed. She looked to Harry. "She obviously fancies you."

"Where are you getting that from?" Harry asked. "Matilda literally just said she's dating O'Malley."

"No. I said she went out with Connor. The date was lackluster. Even I have to know ABBA's discography to be her friend, just like I have to know plant shit to be friends with Neville," Matilda said. "She said Connor O'Malley is like Prince Charming from 'Shrek.' I have no idea what that means, but it meant something to her."

"That he's shallow," Harry said.

"What the hell is a Shrek?" Matilda asked.

"It's a film," Hermione said. "But, she likes you. I can tell."

"Agreed," Matilda said.

"How can you tell?" Harry asked.

"She said you were funny and you aren't," Hermione said.

"I am funny," Harry said. He looked to Matilda. "I am funny, right?"

"Oh, Harry. No," she said, her eyes full of pity. "Ron is your funny guy. If you're friends with a Weasley it automatically makes you not funny. You're, like, the cute athlete. Hermione's the brain. Ron's the funny guy."

"And what about you three?" Hermione said.

"Well, I'm the funny one, I just happen to also be hot. Rory is the brain, and Neville is the guy that makes you think 'why are those two hot girls hanging out with him' and then he shows up at our ten-year reunion super-hot with a super-hot wife and he's super successful and his two hot friends are still his besties and he dies surrounded by beautiful women," Matilda said.

Harry nodded. "I really want that for, Neville, honestly."

"Rory had her glow up this year. Neville will be next," Matilda said. She chuckled. "Can you believe Rory doesn't think she's pretty?"

"Absolutely insane," Hermione said. "Do you think Rory's pretty, Harry?"

"Of course I do. I think you're all lovely," Harry said.

"Aw, Harry you're so sweet. Never say that to Rory," Matilda said.

"I told him already. He's just dumb," Hermione said.

"I'm not dumb," Harry said.

"You're dumb about girls and that's okay," Matilda said. "I don't think Rory will go out with Connor again, so if the opportunity arises to ask her out, I would. Because she'll say yes. And you already like all her muggle shit and she think you're 'so funny' so you'll both be very happy. And photogenic."

"I said that too!" Hermione said.

Harry rolled his eyes. He was irritated with Ron, but he also hoped his best friend go over himself eventually, because if he only had Rory, Hermione, and Matilda for the rest of forever, he might not make it.

* * *

In theory, Rory loved potions. Every year they got more complex, more involved, more difficult. Rory liked the challenge. It was the same reason she loved transfigurations. Defense Against the Dark Arts was her favorite, but it also felt easy to memorizes curses, wand technique, and dark magic. Transfigurations and potions was taking one thing and making it become something else entirely. Rory dreamed of the day she could put her name down to take McGonagall's alchemy class. Rory knew at the very least Hermione would sign up as well.

But potions with Snape made her want to quit the subject entirely after fifth year when it was no longer mandatory.

For starters, he was unnecessarily hostile towards Rory and Harry, simply because he hated the three dads they had among them. Secondly, he was unnecessarily hostile towards Neville who was terrified of him. And third, he was the reason that her father had lost the most stable job he'd had in his entire life. Rory hated Snape because Remus Lupin was born to be a teacher. He was passionate about being a teacher and Snape had stripped it all away.

Rory had not raised her hand once in Snape's class this year. Before, she'd insisted on trying to better his opinion of her by excelling in the class. She wasn't as aggressive about her brain as Hermione, but Rory knew random things, impressive things that her classmates and teachers were startled by. Things you didn't pick up just reading the textbook like Hermione. Rory's dad wasn't skilled at potions, but he was well versed in almost everything he'd learned in school, and Rory absorbed his knowledge like a sponge.

But Snape was never going to care about her skills with potions. He was just going to hate her because he hated Sirius and James and Remus. Rory didn't like Pansy Parkinson in the slightest, but she also knew that the moment she graduated and didn't have to see her every day, Rory would not waste a single brain cell on Parkinson.

Snape was two decades out from when he'd graduated and was still getting revenge by being a dick to children. Rory might feel bad for him if she didn't want to punch him in the face so badly.

And it was a potions class like the one she was in today that tested her nerves.

"Be kind to all of your professors, even the ones you detest," her father had told her. Remus was always sensible, passive, and knew that one day everyone gets what's coming to them.

But upon Sirius her frustration with Snape he'd said: "Don't tell your dad I said this, but if he's going to bully you because I wasn't nice to him, then you should give as good as you get."

That was Rory's instinct, which made sense because, Sirius was her biological father, and maybe her absolute hatred of the man was genetic. But, she tried to keep it in because of her dad. Even having to quit the job he loved so much had not hardened his heart. She wanted to stay out of trouble for him.

But today, he was being a mega jerk to her potions partner, Neville, who needed all the help he could get.

Matilda, Rory, and Neville had devised a system in second year that made it certain that Matilda and Neville would always get paired up with either Hermione or Rory. For many classes in first year, Rory sat with Hermione and their classmates (and teachers) found it to be an intolerable mix. So it was decided, without Hermione's involvement, that Rory would sit with one of her two best friends, and the other would sit with Hermione. They'd invited Harry and Ron to be part of this arrangement, wanting to distribute the brains in their year accordingly, but they declined because they could always bug Hermione for help whenever.

But in potions, Rory had always sat with Neville. Since day one of their first year. And she would not give up that seat until Neville dropped potions sixth year. Because Rory was not going to let Snape bully Neville when she could help it. Usually, Snape bullied both of them, but today, Snape was railing hard against Rory. She hated that the snickering of their Slytherin classmates egged Snape on. He was finally getting approval that he never got as a child.

"Lupin, look at the way Draco stirs his cauldron, so precisely. You're mixing like a toddler," Snape said.

Rory rolled her eyes.

"You all right?" Neville whispered.

"Yeah. My potion is perfect. He's just a cunt is all," Rory whispered to him. Neville nodded, but that wasn't enough to quiet the slowly simmering rage that had been building in her since June.

"What was that Miss Lupin?" Snape asked.

"Nunya," Rory replied absentmindedly. Neville elbowed her as the room seemed to vibrate in anticipation of what would happen now that Rory was being openly rude. She hadn't meant to say that.

"You get that from Sirius," her dad would say now. She got so many things from Sirius, but especially, her dad said, her need to be cheeky and backtalk.

"Excuse me?" Snape asked.

Rory thought about apologizing, taking the hit on the house points, and leaving it alone. That was the sensible thing to do. Even Harry Potter would do that and he might hate Snape more than Rory did.

But Rory didn't back down because she was so angry at Snape for things that had transpired in her third year. And even though she might (would) get detention for it, she needed to speak her truth.

"I said 'nunya' as in 'nunya business,'" Rory repeated.

The class was deathly silent now. Rory played it cool and continued to make her potion as the directions entailed. Snape was standing in front of her and she ignored as she chopped and tossed things into the cauldron and stirred accordingly.

When she finally looked up she said, "Can I help you with something?"

Rory could see the rage in his eyes. She remained blank-faced and unperturbed.

"Is that how you speak to all your teachers?" Snape asked.

"Of course not. Just you," Rory said "I wonder sometimes if you're a cunt because you weren't hugged you enough, or maybe you're still butthurt about not being popular in school 20 years ago and you're taking it out on me. Either way, you get most of your validation out the Slytherin kids finally thinking you're cool because you're an ass to the Gryffindors, something you weren't brave enough to do when you were a child, so children validating you is the only way you feel you've accomplished any-."

"Enough," Snape said, slamming his hand down on the table in front of her. "You'll leave my class and go straight to see the headmaster. Now."

Rory was set to see Dumbledore later, with Harry, but the first time in four years she was sent to Dumbledore to be disciplined? She'd take it.

"All right then," Rory said, getting to her seat. "Harry."

Harry sat two rows in front of her. He was clearly suppressing his laughter.

"Might you bring my cauldron back upstairs for me?" she asked. Harry nodded.

Harry wouldn't be allowed to do it, of course. Snape would threaten him with house points if Harry so much as looked at her cauldron and didn't allow it to boil over, but Matilda or Neville or Hermione would take the risk to save her cauldron.

The Slytherins were snickering as Rory walked out of class, but Rory knew that the next time she saw the Gryffindor's she'd be a hero.


End file.
